The Surprise of a Life Time

ChaserKT

Rating: PG13
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 01/10/2004
Last Updated: 02/11/2005
Status: in_progress

Starting in the summer after 5th year, we follow Harry and Hermione as they move forward in their relationship and explore the new feelings they have for each other. As Voldemort gets more powerful and the ever-changing wizarding world takes shots at them, they get hit with all the surprises of a lifetime.

Chapters

1. On Privet Drive

2. Harry, Hermione and the Dursleys

3. So you’re staying

4. The truth and the almost whole truth

5. Not such sweet dreams

6. And everything changes

7. A/N

8. The Grangers

9. Happy Birthday Harry

10. The second present

11. Sometimes you just shouldn't ask questions

12. The Day After

1. On Privet Drive

The surprise of a life time

Chapter 1

On Privet Drive

It was mid-July, and the hot summer sun was beating through the window at Number Four Privet Drive and onto the desk of one Harry Potter.

Harry sat at his desk, finishing what was left of his summer homework; he had just finished sending a letter to Ron Weasley, his best friend and classmate, then gone back to the daunting task of schoolwork. Harry had done as he had been told and had written someone from the Order everyday of the summer break, much to Uncle Vernon's dismay, as he didn't want those `strange people' in his home. Ron and the Weasleys were back at the Burrow and Hermione was … well, she was in Ireland with her parents the last time he'd heard from her.

Harry had started to worry when it had been over a week since he'd heard from her, so he'd written Ron to ask if Ron had heard anything. Unfortunately Ron, much like himself, had yet to hear anything from Hermione. Ron told Harry that she was probably having fun with her parents and nothing more than that. Harry figured Ron was right and that he was just on edge due to Voldemort's return, resulting in his concern for everyone around him, including the Dursleys, oddly enough.

Harry was on his last piece of homework when he heard the doorbell ring downstairs. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had gone to tea with someone from Uncle Vernon's work and Dudley was more than likely sitting in front of the TV and would not get up to get the door. So Harry headed down the stairs and had just reached the bottom when Dudley came out of the living room at almost a run.

“I'll get the door Harry,” his fat cousin said with a puff.

“Ok I'll just get a glass of water then.”

Harry thought this was very odd as Dudley never ran and hardly ever got the door, but Harry continued quietly into the kitchen. He was filling his glass when he heard Dudley open the door.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

Harry thought Dudley's voice sounded odd; it was deeper then normal, and if Harry didn't know any better it sounded like he was trying to be suave or something. It was only when Harry heard a female's voice did he know what Dudley was doing.

“Oh. Ah. Hello. Is Harry home?”

Harry knew that voice. He put his glass on the counter and walked to the hall, looking over at the front door. Dudley stood there in shock, amazed that someone had come to call on Harry, let alone a girl. The girl at the door waited for Dudley's response, but before he could say anything, Harry spoke up.

“Hermione?”

“Harry!” Hermione squealed.

As she ran past a stunned Dudley, she dropped the bag she was holding and threw her arms out and jumped up. Harry caught her and wrapped his arms around her waist, then slid his arms under her butt so he could look her in the face. Dudley was still standing at the door watching what was happening in front of him.

“Harry, you look great! How are you?”

“I'm fine, but …but what are you doing here? You're suppose to be in Ireland with your parents,” Harry said while still holding her in his arms.

“Well,” she said, as she moved her arms from Harry's neck to his arms, “I lied.” She was smiling at Harry, knowing full well he had no clue what was going on.

“So you never went to Ireland?”

“No, we went. We didn't stay as long as I told you. Remember that we told you that you wouldn't have to stay here long?” Hermione asked, and Harry nodded his head in response. “Well, that's because I talked to Dumbledore and my parents to see if you can spend the rest of the holiday with me, and they said it would be fine.” Hermione grinned from ear to ear.

“Are you serious?! Really?! Wahoooooo!!”

Harry started spinning in place, and Hermione threw her arms back around Harry's neck and leaned back, both laughing as they spun around. When Harry finally stopped spinning, Hermione pulled herself forward and rested her head against his.

“So I take it you're happy.” Hermione fought back a laugh as she spoke.

“Mum and Dad will never let you go.” Dudley had finally come to his senses. He had shut the door and was now standing with his back pressed against the wall. Harry watched his cousin, and knew that Dudley had figured out Hermione was a witch.

“Oh yes they will, or I will have to get those fine people from the Order to come and get him for me. I believe you met them at the train station when you picked Harry up at the start of the holiday. They would make such a racket and all the neighbors would see; wouldn't that be terrible?” Hermione had an evil smile on her face, and then she turned to Harry and stuck the tip of her tongue through her teeth; she was clearly pleased with herself.

Hermione impressed Harry; she knew how to get him out of this house and would even use the Order to do it. Harry then looked at Dudley; if he pressed any harder against the wall, he might go through it. He looked scared to death and was looking from the door to Hermione and back to the door.

Then Dudley screamed and fell to the floor.

Harry and Hermione looked over at Dudley, wondering why he had screamed, but then their question was answered.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?” Uncle Vernon said as he made his way into the house with Aunt Petunia right behind him.

“Who are you? And who scre—” Uncle Vernon never got to finish asking his question because Aunt Petunia had started yelling.

“My baby boy! Dudleykins. What's wrong? What happened?”

Dudley was shaking so bad that he could hardly get the words out.

“She-e said-d that i-i-if-f-f we d-didn't let him go with her they w-would come and get us.”

Uncle Vernon turned so fast that Harry thought his head might fall off; he had become a deep shade of purple and was staring at the two of them.

“What did you do to my son? And why are you holding her like that?”

Harry hadn't noticed that Hermione was still sitting in his arms.

“I think you should put me down now Harry,” Hermione said with her lips very close to Harry's ear. He could feel her warm breath on his face, and it gave him a chill. When Harry put Hermione down, she turned and walked up to Uncle Vernon, sticking out her hand.

“Hello. My name is Hermione Granger and I go to school with Harry.”

Uncle Vernon looked at her as if she had the plague.

“What did you do to my son?!” As he yelled at her, Hermione put her hand back at her side.

“Actually I didn't do that; you did.”

Uncle Vernon's face went to such a deep shade of purple that he looked more like a cartoon then a human.

“Don't lie to me, girl!!”

He looked like he was going to hit Hermione, and Harry couldn't stand it any longer. He took a step forward but then Hermione put her hand up to stop him.

“It's okay, Harry, I can handle this. And Mrs. Dursley, would you please stop crying? There is nothing wrong with him. He just got scared when you came in. Mr. Dursley, I'm not lying to you. I told your lovely son that if you did not let Harry come and stay the rest of the holiday with me that I would have to get the members of the Order that you met at the station to come and get him for me. So you see, when you and your wife came into the house, your son thought it was the members of the Order.”

Aunt Petunia had become very quiet, so did Dudley, and Uncle Vernon's face was now a sickening pale. Hermione was still staring Uncle Vernon down. Harry was so surprised by her; she was standing up to a man who could crush her with one hand easily.

“Oh, Harry, I almost forgot.”

Uncle Vernon jumped and Aunt Petunia screamed a little as Hermione spoke.

“What did you almost forget?”

“Well, I was wondering if you had gotten your O.W.L.S scores yet.” Hermione walked over and picked up the bag she had dropped when she had walked in the house.

“No, I thought I would have gotten them by now. I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer. Did you get yours?”

“Yes.”

“Let me guess…all O's.” Harry had his hand on his forehead like one of those fake psychics.

“Well as a matter of fact, I did. But it's the oddest thing …” Hermione was now reaching into her bag and pulling something out. “I seem to have gotten this too.”

Harry looked to see what it was; it was an envelope that said:

To Harry Potter

Care of Hermione Granger

O.W.L. scores

Harry's eyes grew very wide as he read the envelope.

“Why did they send them to you and not me?”

“Because we weren't sure you would actually get them.” Hermione looked over at the Dursleys and then back to Harry.

“Well give it here.” Harry was extending his hand when Hermione put the envelope behind her back.

“Harry, you didn't think I was just going to hand this over, did you?”

Harry's arm stopped in mid-reach. Hermione had a smirk on here face, and Harry didn't like it one bit.

“`Mione, please give me my scores.” Harry leaped at Hermione, but she moved out of the way and Harry fell onto the floor.

Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were now standing in the doorway to the living room watching the scene in front of them.

“Now see here, I will have none of that,” Uncle Vernon said in a booming voice.

But all it did was make Hermione turn and blow a raspberry at him. Then she turned back to Harry as he started to remove himself from the floor.

“Hermione, don't make me hurt you.”

“Oh no! I'm so scared. The Boy-Who-Lived is going to hurt me. You're going to have to catch me first.”

And with that, Hermione was running up the stairs. Harry got up and ran after her, leaving a shocked Dursley family in their wake.

A/N- Well that's the first chapter and I hope you liked it. Please don't forget to review!

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2. Harry, Hermione and the Dursleys

A/N Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Oh as a side note they will act a little OOC. Just thought I'd make that clear now before I forget.

Disclaimer- I own nothing. Just a few OC and the plot line, everything else is JKR's.

On with the Chapter!

Chapter 2

Harry, Hermione and the Dursleys

Hermione had never been in this house before; she didn't know which room was Harry's until she saw a door with locks on the outside. Many ill thoughts ran through her head as to what to do to the Dursleys for locking Harry up, but before she could think on it further, she heard Harry reach the top of the stairs as she entered his room.

“I've got you now, Hermione!” Harry ran into his room but Hermione was nowhere to be seen. “Where are you?”

Harry walked over and looked under his bed, then his desk and in his wardrobe, but Hermione couldn't be found. He knew she had to be in there. He had just walked back to his doorway to peer out when Hermione jumped onto his back.

“Hey where were you? I looked everywhere.”

“I know. It took everything I had not to laugh.” Her lips were beside his ear again and her warm breath was falling on the side of his neck.

Hermione slid off of Harry's back, and he turned around to look at her. Harry missed the warmth of her body on his.

Stop that, Harry; she's your friend.

“So where were you?”

“Over there.” Hermione pointed to a spot on the wall

“But I would have se—” Harry noticed that part of Hermione's hand was missing and it dawned on him. “You used my cloak, didn't you?”

“Why Harry, you got it.” A big smile came across her face as she folded up the cloak and put it back in the trunk. Harry could see O.W.L. 8iscore still in Hermione's hand.

“Can I have my scores now?”

“Not yet. I want to ask you something first.” Hermione walked over to Harry's bedside table and picked up a picture of Harry, Hermione, Sirius, and all the Weasley children that had been taken at Christmas. Everyone was smiling and holding up a present that they had just opened. Hermione put down the picture when she started to talk.

“Harry I was just wondering--”

Hermione finished her statement with a little scream as she fell back onto Harry's bed, unsure of what had just happened.

“Give me my scores!” Harry had run across the room and tackled Hermione trying to get his scores.

Hermione started laughing and fighting to keep the scores away from Harry.

Finally, Harry yanked the envelope away from Hermione and straddled her to keep her from taking it away. He opened the letter and read his scores, and with each one, his smile got bigger and bigger. Hermione finally stopped fighting to watch him.

“So what did you get?”

Harry rolled off of her and onto the bed and handed them to her. Hermione sat up and read the scores.

“Oh my god, Harry!”

Hermione sat on Harry's stomach with each leg on either side of his body and looked at him.

“All Os! Well except for history, but that was an A, and that's still really good. Oh and Divination that well…who cares you won't need that class anyway if you're going to be an Auror.”

“I know why I didn't get an O in history.”

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and weaved her fingers between his.

“Oh, Harry, I—”

“What do you two think you're doing?”

Harry sat up so fast that he nearly hit heads with Hermione. She grabbed his shirt to keep from falling backwards and ended up touching her lips to his. After a second, Harry pulled back and just stared at her as she bit her bottom lip and went a little pink.

“Now, I don't care what you are, but you won't be doing that in this house!”

Harry looked over to see Uncle Vernon standing in the doorway, Aunt Petunia and Dudley standing behind him. Harry looked at him wondering for a moment what he had meant by `doing that' until it hit him. Harry looked over at Hermione, her mouth open and her face gone from that cute pink to red. She moved her hand over her mouth and proceeded to put her head on Harry's shoulder.

“We…weren't doing…that. We couldn't have been anyway because we're both…fully dressed.” Harry said weakly as he felt a heat rise to his cheeks.

“Still, you shouldn't be up here alone with a girl anyway. I'd hate to have another one of you in the family.” And with that, Uncle Vernon left the room with Aunt Petunia hot on his heels, leaving Harry sitting on the bed with Hermione in his lap and Dudley standing in the doorframe.

“What do you want, Dudley?”

“Well, I was just wondering if girls of your kind are easier than normal girls because it sure looks that way from here.”

Harry's face turned hot with anger and Hermione lifted her head from Harry's shoulder. Harry picked her up off of his lap and sat her back down on the bed and got up.

“You better run, Dudley!” And with that Harry took after him, who had started running down the hall, yelling.

“Mum, Dad, Harry's going to kill me!”

“You're damn right I am!”

Dudley was halfway down the stairs when Harry caught up with him. He grabbed Dudley's shirt collar, and with all his might, pulled his fat body down on the stairs. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had come out of the living room at the sound of Dudley hitting the stairs but Harry didn't care.

“You listen to me, Dudley, if you so much as breathe funny around Hermione again, I'll make what Hagrid and the twins did to you look like nothing.”

“Potter, let him go!”

“And that goes for the two of you too.” Harry had now turned to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and all they could do was stare at him.

Harry turned and had begun to walk up the stairs when he saw Hermione standing at the top. She had tears falling down her checks, and Harry ran up the remaining stairs to her, putting his arm around her. They walked back to Harry's room, Harry shutting the door behind them.

“I'm sorry about what Dudley said to you.” Harry helped Hermione sit down on the bed and then sat beside her.

Hermione finally stopped crying. “It's not just what Dudley said; it's what your Uncle said, too. I mean he hates you and the wizarding world, and neither did anything to him.”

“Actually, it did do something to him.”

“What?”

“If my parents weren't from the wizard world and hadn't got killed by a fellow wizard, he wouldn't have to deal with me.”

Harry looked at the floor before he spoke again. “It's bad enough that he loves to tell me this every chance he gets. But it's worse that I've started hating my parents a tiny bit because they were part of the wizard world. It makes me think that if they weren't, maybe we would still be a family, and my life up to this point wouldn't have been a living hell.”

Hermione simply stared at him as he spoke.

Harry couldn't believe he had told Hermione this. Yes, he had thought it a thousand times, but he had never said it out loud to anyone before.

“Now you listen to me, Harry.” Hermione placed her hands on his face, turning it so that he was looking at her. “You must never, ever think that. Your parents died trying to save you and the world from evil. And in a way, they succeeded. You're still alive and the world was safe. They wouldn't want you hating yourself for something you had no control over. You have the right to hate someone for this, Harry, and it's not you or your parents; it's Voldemort that you should hate. And as for your Uncle and Aunt, don't listen to them. You are so much better than them, and you deserve to be happy. One day you'll get away from this place forever and get married and have a family. A real family who will love you more then words could ever express. If anyone in this world deserves this, it's you, Harry.”

Harry felt her thumbs rub across his face; he had start crying a little bit and didn't even know about it.

“Thank you, Hermione.”

Harry could barely get the words out; he was more upset than he thought. Hermione pulled Harry into a hug, and they sat holding each other until Harry heard a beeping noise.

“Hey Hermione, what's that noise?”

“Oh, it's my mum's cell phone. I told my dad it would be good to call on that than trying to call the house. He said he'd call when he was getting ready to pick us up.”

“Oh great! I'll pack.”

Harry walked over and started throwing his cloths into his trunk.

“Hi Daddy, Harry is just finishing up packing so we should be ready by the time you get here… What? Oh no…hang on, I'll ask.”

Harry had stopped packing when Hermione put her hand over the phone.

“Harry, my dad can't come and get us tonight. The people he was having a meeting with want to talk to him some more tomorrow. Do you think it would be all right if I stayed here tonight?”

“Sure, we'll figure something out.”

“Okay, great. Dad, it will be fine…you'll pick us up tomorrow at eleven … sounds good…Love you too, Daddy. Bye.” And with that, Hermione put the phone back in here bag. “Harry, I would have told you sooner what was going on but things got a bit crazy.”

“Yeah I know. Now do you want to tell them that you're spending the night or shall I?”

A/N- Don't forget to Review please!

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3. So you’re staying

A/n- Ok I need to clear some things up. They are acting out of character. I know they are. The way Harry is acting, not really acting like Sirius is dead, well I feel he would still be in denial about the whole thing. When you lose someone you love that is that close to you, you live in denial a long time. You expect them to call you or walk through the door at any moment. Some people live like that for years others only days. It all depends on how the person was lost and your emotional state at the time.

I know what I'm talking about. I lost a great friend in a car crash. I still think she's going to call and ask if I want to go to the movies or out shopping.

It's the same way with Harry. Sirius fell through a veil. He didn't get to say goodbye or watch him grow old. Plus I don't think Harry really thinks Sirius is dead. So it's very fare to think that he's just not dealing with. There will be a time when he does come to terms with it and when that happens it's not going to be pretty. He will lose it. That's how Harry has dealt with things in the past and that's how I feel he will deal with that.

Hermione will be there to pick up the pieces when that happens. And she knows, because she is smart enough and knows how Harry is, that the best thing for Harry is to make sure that he is ok but to also let him deal with this in his own way. Until it gets to the point it's unhealthy and then she would step in.

That's how I'm writing it. Harry will come to terms with everything that happened at the end of the fifth book but it will take time and some other outside forces. *wink, wink*

Well I just wanted to clear that up because a few of you had said something about it in your review.

On with the chapter!

Chapter 3

So you're staying

Harry and Hermione walked down the stairs to tell the Dursleys that she would be staying the night. They found Uncle Vernon and Dudley sitting at the kitchen table while Aunt Petunia fixed dinner.

“I just thought I'd let you know that Hermione will be spending the night because her dad got caught in meetings and won't be able to pick us up till tomorrow.” Harry watched as Uncle Vernon's face turned red and Dudley nearly fell out of his chair.

“Do you think I would let another one of you stay in this house?”

“Harry, it's okay, we don't have to stay here tonight.”

“Well, that's the first smart thing you've said.” Uncle Vernon's face was now turning back to its normal pink.

“Harry, if you don't mind, can I borrow Hedwig so I can write Moody and ask him to come and get us? Now I will have to tell him to use a muggle way to get us so that might mean that Tonks and Lupin would have to come too. Oh wait, Lupin might not be able to come because of the full moon, that's all we need is a werewolf to come and get us.”

“What do you mean by muggle and werewolf?” Uncle Vernon's face went very pale as he spoke, Aunt Petunia stopped cooking, and Dudley sank even lower down in his chair.

“Oh `muggle' means non-magic; you see my parents are muggles and my dad would have picked us up in his car. I don't know how Moody would get us, might use brooms.”

“Or he might use floo powder,” Harry added, knowing full well they knew what he was talking about.

“Yes that's true. And Professor Lupin is a werewolf, bit as a child, but a very nice man when there isn't a full moon. He tried to attack Harry and me in our third year, but that was because he hadn't had the potion to keep him calm. Well, let me go and write Moody.”

Hermione started to walk out of the room when Uncle Vernon stopped her.

“Now, we wouldn't want any of that coming here. You can sleep in Harry's room, and you can sleep in your old room.”

“No.”

“What did you say to me, boy?” Uncle Vernon's face went from pale to red in a matter of seconds.

“I said no because I'm not going to sleep under the stairs while Hermione is upstairs. It might not be safe for her.” Harry stared at Dudley as he spoke. “So I will sleep in my room with her.”

“I will not have the two of you sleeping in the same bed.” Uncle Vernon's face was now purple.

“I didn't say we would sleep in the same bed. I'll sleep on the cot.”

“Well, now that that's settled, Harry, why don't you and I go out to dinner and then come back and go to sleep.” Hermione had started talking before Uncle Vernon could say no to this idea. “My treat, Harry. I need to get my bag, and you should change your shirt.”

With that, Harry and Hermione turned and went back to Harry's room. After they entered Harry's bedroom, Hermione shut the door.

“I can't believe that worked,” Hermione sighed.

Harry looked over at her. He knew that if they hadn't had a plan, she wouldn't have been able to stay the night.

“Are you sure you want me to stay in here with you tonight?”

“Of course I do. I wouldn't have asked you, Harry, if I didn't mean it. Plus, I'm worried that if I'm up here and you're downstairs, Dudley might try something. So what are you going to wear?”

“I don't know, which do you think?” Harry held up two shirts, one black and the other a red and gold rugby shirt.

“Wear the black one. It will bring out the color in your eyes.”

“Okay.” Harry took off the shirt he had on, threw it in his trunk, and then pulled on the black one.

Hermione watched as Harry changed, noticing what good shape he was in. Then again, it had been over a year since she had seen him without a shirt off and he was growing up; they both were.

“Ready to go?”

“Yeah how far do we have to walk?”

“One block up, ten over.”

A/N- Don't forget to review!! You know right in that little box below. Thanks!

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4. The truth and the almost whole truth

A/N- Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad I was able to clear up how Harry's acting. And one last thing thanks to my beta. Without you I wouldn't be here.

Chapter 4

The truth and the almost whole truth

They walked downstairs, told the Dursleys they would be back in a while, and headed down the street. Over dinner they talked of their summers; Hermione's had been much more fun than Harry's. As they walked back to the house Hermione stopped at the park and look at it through the fence.

“I wish we could go inside and play.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and led her to a spot where they could jump the fence.

“Here, give me your foot; I'll give you a boost.”

Harry cupped his hands together and Hermione put her foot in. He then raised her up so she could climb over the fence. When Hermione was over, she turned and watched Harry lift himself over with ease.

“So I guess you've done this before.”

“Once or twice.”

Hermione walked up to Harry looking into his eyes and said, “Tag you're it!” And with that Hermione started running as fast as she could into the park. Harry stood there dumbstruck for a moment then ran after her and caught up with her at the swings. He picked her up, placed her in a swing and began to slowly push her.

“I love this. It reminds me of being a kid you know? Like this was the closest you could get to flying.”

“Yeah.” Harry had never had a moment like what Hermione was talking about, but that was probably because Hermione was wanted as a child. Harry was getting ready to push Hermione again when he realized that she was standing next to him.

“Come here.”

Hermione took Harry's hand and led him to a bench were she sat down and Harry followed suit. “Harry I've been meaning to ask you all afternoon, and started to before you tackled me.” Harry snorted a laugh. “Harry I'm serious. How are you doing?”

“I'm fine. I told you earlier.”

“I meant with Sirius. How are you doing with his death? Oh Harry, I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have asked.” Hermione had a tear running down her face.

“Hermione, it's not your fault, it's just that sometimes I make myself forget it happened that's all. It's getting better, I promise.”

Hermione threw her arms around Harry and buried her face into his chest. Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione's tiny waist. They sat there for a while before they got up and walked back to the house, still wrapped up together. Once they got into the house they said goodnight to the Dursleys as they quickly walked past the living room and then went up into Harry's room.

“Ah, Harry, do you have a tee shirt I can sleep in?”

Harry had forgotten that the only clothes that Hermione had were the ones she had on.

“Oh, ah, yeah. Might be a little big.” Harry handed Hermione a plain white tee shirt and then showed her were the bathroom was.

Harry went back to his room and took off all his clothes, except his boxers, which he slept in, and then put up the cot that he would sleep on. Harry had just put a pillow and blanket on the cot when he saw Hermione standing in the doorway. He looked at her, the tee shirt he had given her barely reached her thighs and her hair was falling down her back. Harry couldn't help but stare at her; she looked so pretty. To Harry she had always been pretty, but this was different; she was sexy. Harry didn't know what made her sexy this time; maybe it was because she was wearing his tee shirt or the fact that she would be sleeping in his room with him. He didn't know what it was but it made him feel like a fool for not noticing before.

“Harry, are you ok?”

Harry snapped back to reality and saw that Hermione's face had gone pink from him staring at her.

“Yeah, lost in thought. I need to go brush my teeth.”

Harry quickly walked past Hermione to the bathroom. He went into the bathroom and leaned on the door as he shut it. With his back on the door he slid down till he was sitting on the floor, his knees were at his chest and his face was in his hands.

`You idiot! Now she must think you like her. How could you just stare at her like that? WAIT.' Harry took his head out of his hands, he had a thousand thoughts running through his head, most of which were calling him an idiot, but there was thought that was louder than the rest.

`Do I like Hermione?'

He had never thought of her like that before, but she was the one person who was always there for him. Ron tended to be a little flaky sometimes. If Harry hadn't fallen for Cho then what would have happened?

`I would have tried to date Hermione.'

And that light kiss that they shared earlier was better then the kiss with Cho. It had given him this warm feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“I do like Hermione.” Harry realized that he said that last part out loud and then hoped that she didn't hear him.

Harry slowly got up and walked to the sink and brushed his teeth. As Harry walked back to his room, new thoughts about Hermione started springing up. But when he entered his room he found Hermione laying on the cot reading.

“Hermione you take the bed I'll take the cot.”

“No I'm fine and don't you even argue with me about it.”

Harry knew once Hermione set her mind on something he couldn't change it. Harry climbed into bed and was about to turn off the light when Hermione got up and shut the door.

“Sorry. Thought Dudley might walk by or something while we're sleeping.”

“Good move.”

Hermione hopped back on the cot and under the blanket.

“Goodnight Harry.”

“`Night Hermione.”

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5. Not such sweet dreams

A/N-Thanks for all the reviews! You guys rock!!

Chapter 5

Not such sweet dreams

Harry was back in the Ministry of Magic; he was pulling Neville up a set of stairs. He looked up to see Sirius battling and then getting hit by a spell and he started to fall.

Everything started happening in slow motion, Harry ran to save Sirius but something stopped him he couldn't move anywhere, then Sirius was gone. Harry woke up like a shot.

“Harry! Harry, wake up! Harry! Are you ok?”

Harry looked up to see Hermione staring down at him.

“Sirius! I've got to save him. If I could just get close enough I can save him.” Harry sat up and was trying to get out of bed but Hermione wouldn't let him.

“Harry, it was a dream. Sirius is dead; you can't save him.”

Harry just stared at her but he knew she was right.

“Have you been having this dream a lot?”

Harry could see the worry on Hermione's face. He couldn't lie to her. Plus he needed to talk to someone and if he couldn't talk to her then whom could he talk to?

“Every now and again; it's been about three days since the last time. Which is nothing compared to the first two weeks I got back when I was having it every day.” Harry felt his eyes get watery; he knew he was going to cry but, more importantly, he knew he needed to.

“What happens in the dream?” Harry could see her eyes fill with tears.

“I see him start to fall but it's in slow motion. I try to get to him but I can't. Something won't let me. And then Sirius disappears into the veil and I wake up.” Harry could feel the tears running down his face. He looked over at Hermione and tears were running down her face too.

Harry grabbed Hermione by her waist and pulled her into his lap and she put her arms around him. She stared into Harry's eyes, leaned in and kissed him so close to his mouth that the edge of their lips met, and then she placed her head on Harry's chest. Then with unspoken words, Harry pulled up the bed sheet, Hermione climbed under and they both laid down. Harry could feel her bare legs next to his and her tears falling onto his chest. He didn't know what it was about Hermione but she calmed him. Soon they were fast asleep wrapped up in each other's arms.

A/N- Ok I know this was really really short. But it's because the next chapter has a lot going on in it and this is the best place to stop. The next chapter will be out either later tonight or tomorrow morning. So you won't have to wait that long for it. Don't forget to review!

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6. And everything changes

A/N- Ok here is the next chapter. Good news this is one of my favorite chapter that I'm just really proud of. Bad news it's the last chapter I have beta'd. I have a lot of this story written but not much beta'd. So I don't know when the next post will be so bear with me. Once I get the next few chapters back I'll post. On with the chapter.

Chapter 6

And everything changes

Harry woke the next morning to find Hermione still beside him with her head on his chest. He looked down to see if she was awake, carefully moved some hair and tucked it behind her ear. She was still asleep. Harry kissed her lightly on the top of her head and she opened her eyes and looked up at Harry.

“How did you sleep?”

“Fine since you got in the bed with me. You?”

“Oh fine. Harry do you think we could stay like this forever?”

Harry was taken back by what she just said. Was it possible that Hermione liked him back? He didn't know what to say. But then something inside of him told him to tell her the truth about it.

“Yeah I do.”

Hermione looked up at him. It was what she was hoping he would say. She then pushed herself up and kissed Harry. Harry couldn't believe that Hermione was kissing him, but he put his hands on her waist and kissed back. Hermione's hair fell around them like a curtain putting them in their own little world away from everyone else. Hermione pulled away from Harry and stared into his eyes.

“We better get ready. My dad will be here soon.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Hermione got up, picked up her clothes and went to the bathroom to get ready. Harry watched her go then ran his hands through his hair, stopping half way through, and looking at the ceiling. Hermione had just kissed him and he kissed her back.

“Hey Harry, can you come here please?”

Harry got out of bed and walked out to the bathroom door where Hermione's head was sticking out. “You called?”

“Would it be okay if I used your toothbrush?”

“Oh yeah that's fine.”

“Thanks.”

Harry walked back to his room and put away the cot and picked out something to wear for the ride to Hermione's house. He had started to put the rest of his things in his trunk when he felt Hermione's arms around his waist.

“Bathroom is all yours.”

“Great.”

Harry walked slowly to the bathroom; he turned on the shower, took off his boxers and hopped in. After washing his hair Harry stepped out of the shower and grabbed two towels. He wrapped one around his waist and the other he threw on his head. Harry loved to take showers. It was the one thing that made him forget everything that was going on and he loved that feeling. He opened the door to the bathroom, threw the towel over his hair and started to shake it dry as he walked back to his room. Harry entered his room and shut the door with his foot like always. He stopped shaking his hair long enough to throw the towel around his waist to the floor, then went back to drying his hair.

“Ah Harry.”

Harry stopped drying his hair and looked up to see Hermione sitting on his bed. She was staring at him with her mouth opened and her checks flushed. Harry quickly took the towel off his head and used it to cover himself. Harry then felt his face turn red.

“Sorry I forgot you were here.”

“Oh thanks, I feel loved.”

It was all Harry could do to stand there in the silence, and then Hermione spoke up.

“I didn't really see anything.”

Harry could tell she was lying. Her face went from pink to red.

“Hermione, don't lie, you're as red as an apple.”

“Well you've got nothing to be ashamed of.” Hermione started to giggle though she didn't want to, but she couldn't help it. She just saw Harry Potter naked, one of her best friends and the Boy-Who-Lived.

“Oh just wait until I tell the girls at school that I saw Harry Potter naked.” Hermione was now laughing so hard she fell over and Harry took that time to put on a pair of boxers.

“Oh no you wouldn't.”

“And why not?”

Harry then walked over to Hermione and placed his hands on her knees and leaned in close to her face.

“Because you are one of my best friends and you would never do anything to hurt me. Plus, do you think the girls at our school will really believe that that is the real way you saw me naked?”

Hermione knew he was right and she hated it. But she couldn't help but notice how close Harry's face was to hers, how green his eyes were and how his breath was tickling her face. Hermione put her hands on Harry's face, started breathing heavier for some reason, and then leaned in and started to kiss him. Harry took his hands off Hermione's knees and placed them on either side of her thighs and Hermione took one hand off Harry's face and placed it on his side. Hermione lay down on the bed and pulled Harry down with her. Harry couldn't believe this was happening and neither could Hermione. Harry placed his hand on Hermione's waist and slid his hand under the bottom of her shirt. He then slid his hand up until he felt her ribs.

“Harry we should stop.”

“Yeah we should.”

But neither could. Harry moved his up hand up Hermione's side until he felt her bra. Hermione rolled and threw Harry on his back, then sat up and pulled off her shirt. Harry sat up with her and started kissing her again, and then he slipped his hands around her back to her bra clasp. He was getting ready to undo the clasp when they heard the doorbell ring.

“Oh my God Harry, that's my dad. We have to get dressed.”

Hermione got up and put on her shirt, as Harry threw on a shirt and pants. He look over at Hermione who was now throwing his things into his trunk. Harry ran to the bathroom and got his things from there and threw them in the trunk.

“Harry, let Hedwig out so she can fly to my house.”

“Okay, good thinking.” Harry picked Hedwig up in her cage and carried her to the window.

“Hedwig, fly to Hermione's.” Harry had to hit the cage a couple of times because Hedwig was asleep before she flew out. When Harry turn back around Hermione was closing the lid to his trunk.

“Here, I'll take the cage you take the trunk.'

Harry placed the cage on the floor and pick up his trunk and they headed to the stairs.

As they made their way down the stairs Harry could see Uncle Vernon talking to Mr. Granger. Harry knew this couldn't be good.

A/N- Ok I know it's going a little AU but I really like how it's going. And if anything it's only going to get more AU. Even though I don't think it's that bad. On just a side note, the towel part of this chapter actually happened to me and a friend of mine. When I had him read this he said he was going to kill me for telling. But no one will know it's him. I did change what happen with me though. My friend is gay so there was no snogging.

But I did think it fit in well with the story so I used it. So thanks again for all the reviews, I really do love reading almost most all of them, and I'll post again soon.

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7. A/N

Ignore this chapter would not show update.

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8. The Grangers

A/n: Ahhhh I'm back! New chapter and everything. I know that it has been awhile since the last update but I had one hell of a time finding a new beta. But now I have one so I hope that I will be able to update at least once a week. Also on a side note the stories rating will be going up in the near future to more than likely R, but that may change. Don't forget to review! So without further ado the next chapter:

Chapter 7: The Grangers

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hello sweetheart. Hi Harry.”

“Hi Mr. Granger. How was your meeting?”

“Fine, fine... A dentist's work is never done, you know...”

“Well, I've got everything ready to go,” Harry said cheerfully.

“Good, well, let's get your stuff in the car.”

“Uh... Harry, where's your Firebolt?” Hermione asked as she looked around at the pile of Harry's things that they had brought down thus far.

Harry looked down at his stuff as well and realized that his racing broom wasn't there. “Must have left it up stairs. I'll be right back.”

“Daddy, can you take Harry's things out to the car while I help him look?”

They ran back up the stairs before getting an answer, and Mr. Granger took Harry's trunk to the car. Harry walked into his room and pried up the loose floorboard beneath his bed and pulled out his cherished broomstick.

“Well... that's a good hiding space.”

“Yeah, it came in handy when Dudley was on his `diet,' ” Harry explained. He then started towards the door when Hermione grabbed his arm. “What?”

“About what happened this morning before my dad got here...”

“Hey, we can talk about that when we get to your house.” Harry leaned down and kissed Hermione lightly on the cheek.

“Uh... sure.”

They ran back down the stairs and out to the car to see Mr. Granger shutting the boot of the car. “Harry, you'll have to keep the broom with you in the back seat. I think it could break if we put it back here.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Goodbye Mr. & Mrs. Dursley, thank you for letting me stay the night.”

“It was nice to meet you Mr. Dursley and thank you again for letting Hermione stay the night.”

“She was an angel,” Uncle Vernon called after them.

Harry stopped and turned to stare at Uncle Vernon, not believing that he really just said that. He continued to watch the Dursleys as he opened the car door for Hermione, though he waited until Mr. Granger was in the car before he actually said anything.

“Until next summer, then.” Without waiting for a response, Harry quickly got in the car and watched as the Dursleys went back into the house.

As they went down the road Harry saw Mr. Granger look at him in the rearview mirror. “Harry, I was just wondering... are your Aunt and Uncle in their right mind?”

Hermione burst into laughter and so did Harry. “Why? What did they say to you?” Harry's laughter barely let him get the words out.

“Well, they just said that they were sorry for what I was going through, and that they understood.”

“Oh, that's because they feel bad for you because Hermione is a witch. They don't really like the wizarding world, that's all.”

“Don't like... Harry, they hate the wizarding world and everything to do with it! I wonder why he called me an angel, though...”

“I think it was because he was afraid that either you or me would sick the Order on him if he said something mean.”

“Yeah,” Hermione said as she snorted out a laugh.

“Oh, I see.” Mr. Granger, however, looked utterly confused, but said nothing else on the matter.

The rest of the trip went smoothly, as Mr. Granger ask Harry questions about his life and what he likes to do for fun. Harry even explained to him about the game of Quidditch - much to Hermione's dismay - and Mr. Granger said he wouldn't mind seeing a game of that firsthand. When they finally arrived at the house, Harry practically lost the ability to speak.

“It's not much, I know... but it's home.”

Harry looked at Hermione like she was crazy. “Not much? Hermione, this makes the Dursley's look like a shack!”

Hermione started to blush and Mr. Granger laughed, but she knew he was right.

Harry looked slowly back to the house to where he'd be staying for the next few weeks. It was a huge three story brick house with a large mahogany door. Once they got out of the car and Harry had his trunk, Hermione carried his firebolt and Hedwig's cage. As Harry walked in behind Mr. Granger, he stopped so fast that Hermione ran into him from behind.

“As you can see,” Hermione started as she pushed Harry into the house. “To your left is the kitchen and dining room, and on your right is the formal living room and library. Daddy, I'm just going to give Harry a tour of the rest of the house and show him to his room.”

“Ok sweetheart. Your mother and I will be in the kitchen fixing a late lunch. Once you're done, just come down to the kitchen.”

Hermione lead Harry up a large set of mahogany stairs and onto a landing for the second floor.

“Down the hall to the left are my parent's bedroom and a guestroom. And down here are our rooms. This one's yours.” They had turned to the right and walked down the hall until the reached a door on the right. When they walked in the room, there was a large queen-sized bed against the wall to the right and a door an either side of the room. “Your bathroom is the door on the other side of the bed and the closet is on the opposite side. There's a TV in the armoire over there. You can unpack later tonight.”

“Sure thing.” Harry sat his trunk at the end of the bed and Hermione sat Hedwig's cage on top of the trunk and the firebolt on the bed. “Let me open the window for when Hedwig gets here,” He suggested, walking over and opening the window for Hedwig. He then followed Hermione out of his room and into a room across the hall.

“And this one's mine.”

Harry could not believe how much her room looked like what he had always thought a girl's room would look like. It had a large queen-size canopy bed that had light pink fabric curtains with sheets to match. There was a large window seat that over looked a massive backyard. Her room had the same floor plan as his otherwise. However, on either side of the window seat were large bookshelves that were completely filled, but not only with books, but many, many pictures as well. Harry walked over to look at some of the photos that were scattered in with the books as she motioned him inside.

“Wow... nice room,” Harry said as he continued to look over the photos of Hermione growing up. He couldn't really think of much else to say, considering the room that he knew he had grown up with.

“Thanks.” Harry turned to watch Hermione, tearing his attention away from the pictures, and saw her shut and locked door before walking back and sitting on the bed.

“Harry... about what happened back at your house... I don't normally do things like that.”

Harry turned and walked over to join her on the bed. “Well, I'd hope not.”

“Honestly, Harry, I'm being serious! What happened between us was....”

“Amazing.” Harry looked up to meet her eyes, and saw that she was starting to blush.

“Yeah, it was. It's just... what does this mean for us?”

Harry looked back at Hermione, unsure of himself suddenly. He didn't know if she wanted to hear what he was thinking, but he decided to say it anyway.

“I guess, if you want, you could be my girlfriend...”

“Harry, would you really want me to be your girlfriend?” she asked as she turned back to look at him after having turned away to try and hide her blush.

“Well, yeah, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it...”

“Harry I... I...”

Hermione couldn't seem to get the words out, so she climbed into his lap instead and kissed him. In turn, he put his hands on Hermione's waist pulled her closer as they kissed each other feverishly. It took great control a few minutes later for him to pull away again.

“We should stop, your parents are downstairs. Plus, if we keep going like this, I might not be able to control myself.”

Hermione started to blush all over again. “Well, I can't help it if I can't keep my lips off my boyfriend...”

“I'm going to have to get used to you calling me that, you know?”

“Well, that's what you are, right? Now, come on. I'll show you the rest of the house quickly.”

“There's more?”

Hermione laughed as she pulled Harry out of her room and up another set of stairs. This set opened up to one large room that had the biggest TV Harry had ever seen or even imagined.

“This is the family room. We spend most time up here instead of in the down stairs livingroom. As you can see, we have a pool table, air hockey, pinball, all the computer stuff, a bar, and of course my dad's pride and joy - the 78 inch TV. The saddest thing is I think he loves that TV more than me.”

Harry laughed at Hermione comment but then a funnier thought popped into his head. “Wow, I'd love to see the face on the Dursleys' if they walked in here. I think Dudley would faint right away.”

“Yeah, but when Dad got it in the beginning of the holidays, the first people I thought who would get a real kick out of it would be the Weasleys.”

This image sent Harry over the edge, and he started laughing so hard that tears were falling down his checks. “We should invite them over just for that, but I think this entire house would give Mr. Weasley a heart attack.” Harry laughter was out of control.

“Harry, that's not funny.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

They both had tears streaming down their faces from laughter, so she couldn't really deny the fact, even if she had wanted to. “Come on, lets just go eat.”

They walked into the kitchen to see Hermione's parents putting hamburgers onto a large tray. “Hello Harry, it's lovely to see you. Hope you don't mind me not shaking your hand, raw meat.” Hermione's mother gave him a quick, soft smile before looking back to what she was doing.

“That's fine.”

Harry could see were Hermione got her looks from - her mother was only a bit taller than she was, but other than that, they had the same basic body build and hair style.

“Guys, we're going to grill these outside, so why don't you grab plates, silverware, and glasses, and go set up on the patio.”

“Sure thing, Dad. Harry, you get plates and silverware and I'll get the glasses.”

Hermione got everything out herself anyway, as Harry had no idea where anything was, and loaded it into Harry's hands before getting the glasses for herself. He walked out behind Hermione, and found that the backyard was huge and held a pool. There was a large fence encasing the whole of the yard, and the many trees made it all very cozy. The good sized pool was off to the left and it had a diving board, slide, and a hot tub that was connected by a small waterfall.

“Wow.”

“That's what you keep saying... By the way, there's also a hot tub through those doors that we use when it's cold outside.”

Harry and Hermione set the table together, and each time their hands brushed against the others, they would smile to each other. Mrs. Granger brought out a pitcher of lemonade and some chips that she had just gotten done frying, and then Mr. Granger brought over the burgers. They had a wonderful meal that consisted of stories and laughter. When they were done, Harry and Hermione cleared the table and put everything in the dishwasher while her parents put away everything else.

“Sweetheart, your mother and I have patients until 6 tomorrow and then at least an hour of paperwork after that. We should be home around 7:30 or so, but I'm sure you two can keep each other entertained that long, right?”

“That should be fine Daddy. We'll probably stay by the pool for most of the day.”

“Ok then... Let's go upstairs and watch a movie before we turn into pumpkins.” Once they had all gathered upstairs and each had a place in front of the TV, Hermione went over to a large tower that had rows and rows of DVDs held inside.

“So, what do you want to watch?” Mrs. Granger asked as she plopped down beside her husband.

“I will not watch a chick flick - there's another guy here, so for once I'm not outnumbered. But I could go for something funny,” Mr. Granger replied with a grin to Harry.

“Alright.” Hermione started reading over movie titles till she stopped and pulled one out. “How about Pirates of the Caribbean? Have you seen it, Harry?”

“Nah, the Dursleys won't let me watch the news, let alone a movie. Anything's fine with me.”

“Good, then we'll watch this.” Hermione placed the DVD in the player and sat down next to Harry. “I really like Orlando Bloom, he's rather cute. Ouch.”

“What's wrong?” Mrs. Granger sat up at her daughter's squeal.

“Harry just pinched me.”

“Sorry, didn't mean to.”

“Yeah, I'm sure.” Hermione said low enough so that only she and Harry could hear.

They all sat back and watched the movie in relative silence, and by the time it was over Hermione's head was resting on Harry's shoulder. Harry could have watched the whole movie again if he hadn't been so tried - he didn't really want to move given how comfortable he was, but knew they had to. They all got up and slowly made there way to their rooms. When Harry and Hermione got to their doors Harry looked down the hall to see if her parents had gone in their room before he spoke.

“Night Hermione.” Harry leaned down and kissed her gently.

“Hmm, night.” Hermione slowly walked into her room and shut the door behind her quietly.

Harry went into his room and took off his clothes before shutting the window. Hedwig was already there, so there was no need to keep it open all night. He then hopped into bed and went to sleep.

It was happening again... Sirius was falling again and he could not get close enough...

---------------------

“Harry wake up! You're having your nightmare again!”

Harry sat up quickly at the words in his ear to find Hermione sitting on the edge of his bed with her hands on his shoulders.

“I'm sorry... didn't mean to wake you. Was I loud?”

“No. Actually, I didn't hear you till I opened the door,” Hermione said as she bit her lip sheepishly.

“Then, why'd you come to my room?”

“I don't know... something inside of me told me to check on you, that's all,” she replied as her cheeks took on a pink tint.

“Well, that's weird.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Hermione asked timidly.

“You can if you'd like.”

Hermione rolled over Harry and crawled under the covers and pulled him back down so they could sleep curled up together. “Harry... are you ok?”

“Not completely. I just want this dream to end. I hate seeing it. It's bad enough that I killed him, but to have to watch it over and over again...” Harry started to let tears fall, but didn't even try to hide it from Hermione.

“Harry, you can't do this to yourself. Sirius wouldn't want you too.”

Harry looked over at Hermione, her big brown eyes staring in to his. She wrapped her arms protectively around him and laid her head on his chest as he put his arms around her too. He then fell asleep rather easily, and the rest of the night, he only dreamed dreams of her.

*******

Harry woke the morning to the sound of someone knocking at his door.

“Harry, it's Mrs. Granger. May I come in?”

“Cover me, Harry,” Hermione hissed to him, flattening herself against the bed to let Harry throw the covers over her quickly.

“Sure, come on in!”

Mrs. Granger walked in and shut the door behind her quietly. She looked to him for a moment before smiling. “Hermione, I know you're in here, so come on out.”

Hermione slowly sat up, pulling the blanket off her, to reveal a large blush on her face. She looked like she was ready for her mum to start yelling at her, too. Harry was sure he didn't look a whole lot better.

“Mum, it's not what it looks like...” Hermione started weakly.

“I know.”

“You see Harry had... wait, you know?”

“That's right. I had gone downstairs last night because I thought I had forgotten to set the coffee maker for the morning, and on my way back to my room I saw you sneaking across the hall into Harry's room. So, like any good mother, I listened at the door to see what was going on. When I was sure that you two weren't going to do anything more than sleep, I simply went back to bed. However, I don't think your father would like the fact that his 16 year old daughter spent the night in the same bed as a boy, especially one that's the same age. I'm not going to say anything to him for our own safety, so I'll try to keep him from saying goodbye to you in the mornings, just encase Harry has that dream again.”

Harry and Hermione nodded but couldn't help think how nice she was being about this. “Now, we're heading off to work, so we'll see you two tonight.”

“Mrs. Granger, thank you.”

“Harry, anyone who has been through what you have needs all the love they can get.”

Mrs. Granger walked over and kissed Harry's forehead and then left the room.

“Wow, I thought she was going to kill us,” Hermione admitted as she let out the breath she had been holding.

“Yeah.” Harry laid back down and Hermione laid down with him and placed her chin on his chest, even as he put a hand to his forehead where her mother had just kissed him. “So, what do you want to do today, Hermione?”

“Stay here with you all day.”

“That can be arranged.” Harry pulled Hermione on top off him and started to kiss her gently, just enjoying her presence.

“Harry, why did it take us so long to start doing this?”

“I don't know, but I was a fool for not realising how I felt about you earlier.”

“Well, at least you figured it out before it was too late.”

“Yeah, but now it's too late for every other guy,” he said with a smile. He then ran his hands through Hermione's hair so he could better see her face.

Hermione leaned down and kissed Harry's lips, then his neck, and then went on to his chest. She slowly slipped her hand down his bare chest, then on down to the top of his boxers before sliding it around to the small of his back and rolled him on top of her instead. Harry continued to kiss her as he placed his left hand on her panty line and his right hand on the bottom of her tanktop, and started to push it up. He then pulled her up so he could kiss where his left hand had been. He slowly made his way up her stomach, kissing every inch of the way, which made Hermione giggle. Yes, making Hermione giggle. When he got to her chest that was still covered by the tanktop, he skipped over the fabric and moved up to kiss her neck, chin, and then finally her lips again.

After finally releasing her lips again, Harry started making his way down Hermione's neck to the hollow of her throat. As he kissed the top of Hermione's right breast, pushing the fabric down just a little to do so, he felt her take in a deep breath.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“If you stop, I'll kill you.”

He couldn't keep the grin of his face as he went back to kissing her soft skin. They continued to kiss and touch each other with the passion of a couple who had been together years rather than just a day. Hermione could feel her whole body start to tingle and she dug her nails into Harry's back.

“Hey, easy tiger.”

“Oh, Harry, shut up and kiss me!”

Harry did as he was told and started kissing her firmly on the lips again.

*THUMP*

“Harry, what was that?”

“I don't know.”

They both sat up to see what had made the noise, taking the first break from their interaction ever since Hermione's mother had left earlier that morning.

“Harry, look.”

Hermione was pointing to the window. Harry looked over to see Pigwidgeon flying around outside, beating against the window in an attempt to get inside. He got up and opened the window, and Pig flew in instantly and started to fly laps around the ceiling fan. Hermione stood up and caught pig mid lap and held on to him so Harry could remove the note from his leg.

“You can let him go now.”

“No, not yet, because if you have to send a note back, I don't want to have to catch him again.”

“Good point.” Harry watched for a moment as Pig tried to get out of Hermione's grip before he actually opened the note.

“So, what does it say?”

“He's asking if I want to come and spend the rest of the holidays with him. You didn't tell him you made plans for me to stay here?”

“No, are you kidding? He'd have either let it slip to you or made it so we both went to his house instead. So... are you going to go?” She sounded a little concerned at the thought.

“Nah, I happen to like it right where I am. Let me just write him back and tell him what's going on.”

“Ok... just don't tell him about us, okay.”

“Why not?”

“Honestly Harry, do I have to explain everything to you? It's not the kind of thing one tells his best friend in a letter.”

“Ah.”

Harry wrote Ron a quick note on the back of the original, saying that he was staying at Hermione's house, and then retied the note to Pigs leg. Hermione hopped off the bed and walked to the window and threw the small, hyperactive owl out, and together, they watched as he flew away.

“So, where were we?”

“Harry, lets go for a swim in the pool.”

“What?”

“It's not that I didn't like what we were doing... it's just... We were getting a little too close, don't you think?” Hermione turned and started towards the door before getting an answer.

“Hey, I thought you wanted to stay in bed all day.”

“Maybe we can later on in the holiday!” she said with a smile. “Now, put on your trunks and meet me downstairs.”

“I might need a cold shower first.”

Hermione laughed in response and walked into her room. The thing was, Harry wasn't really kidding, he really did think he needed one after what they had been doing... Instead, he slowly walked over and grabbed his trunks from amongst his things and put them on. His bedroom door was still opened, but most of him didn't care, because Hermione had already seen him naked. He then walked into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and headed downstairs.

He only had to wait a minute before Hermione came down the stairs carrying two towels on her side before she took his breath away. She was wearing a bright blue bikini and her hair was simply cascading down her back. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at Harry. He had his mouth wide open and was just staring at her in amazement. She walked up and closed his mouth gently with one finger.

“Harry, it's not nice to stare. Now, come on. Let's go get in the pool.” Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along with her into the backyard.

She threw the two towels she was holding on to into one of the pool chairs. They walked to the edge of the pool and Hermione stuck her toes in and pulled them right back out, much to Harry's amusement.

“Are you afraid the water's going to bite?”

“No I just... Harry don't!”

Harry just grabbed Hermione despite her protests and pulled her with him as he leapt into the water. As soon as they surfaced, Hermione started to hit and splash him with water.

“Harry, honestly that's not funny! I could have gotten hurt.”

“No, you couldn't... I wouldn't let anything bad ever happen to you when you're in my arms.” Harry was trying to get close enough to her but Hermione kept splashing, keeping him at bay.

Finally Harry dove under the water and got her by her waist. When he got back to the surface he let his grip on Hermione go a little so she slid down into the water again until they were face to face. He then kissed her softly on the lips, just enjoying the feeling. Once they separated, she leaned back and looked at Harry, running her hands through his black hair in a vain attempt to slick it back. But, alas, it fell back to where it was moments before, and Hermione started to laugh.

“What?”

“It's just your hair... It won't stay put!”

“Hermione, has it really taken you five years to notice that?”

“No, I just thought it would stay put when wet. Come on, let's get in the hot tub.”

“What, not hot enough here for you?”

“Actually it's not, I thinks it's rather cold right here.”

“Think I can fix that...”

“Oh really? How?”

“Like this,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her again. He took one hand from her waist and moved it to her hair.

Hermione never knew how strong Harry was before, but he was only holding her with one arm like she weighed nothing. They slowly made their way back to the wall, and when they got there he lightly pressed her against it, pulling the two of them even closer together. They kissed each other with more passion than they might admit to later until Hermione heard someone calling her name.

“Who's that?”

“I don't know... Just swim over to the other side, quick!”

Harry ducked under the water and swam away from Hermione as she instructed, pulling back up when he reached the far side.

“Hey, Hermione. I figured I'd find you out here.”

“Hi, Jill. How are you?”

“Fine, fine. Who's that?”

Harry was pulling himself up out of the pool, letting you see every muscle in his back as he did so. He then made his way over to the diving board, not even glancing in their direction the full time.

“That's Harry. He goes to my school and he's spending the rest of the holidays with us.”

“Wow, he's gorgeous. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Yes he does,” Hermione said a little defensively.

Harry dove off the diving board and disappeared under the water, barely making a splash.

“That's ashame... I'd like to have had a chance with that!”

“Jill, I can't believe you just said tha….”

Harry had grabbed her suddenly and pulled her under midsentence. When she finally resurfaced her hair was everywhere, and she was spluttering, spitting water out of her mouth before turning on him.

“HARRY JAMES POTTER! If you do that one more time I'm so going to hurt you!”

“Hi, Harry I'm Jill. Hermione and I used to go to school together.”

“Nice to meet ya. Oi, Hermione that hurt!” Hermione had finally gotten her hair under control and had hit Harry in the arm, hard. “So, was Hermione as smart when she was little as she is now?” She tried to hit him again, but he had moved out of her reach.

“Hermione, a smarty pants? No! So, Harry, I hear you have a girlfriend... What's she like?”

“Jill!”

“Hermione, it's fine, I don't mind. Well, let's see... she's nice, funny, smart, a great friend, and... ah, yes, a body to die for.”

Hermione started to blush at his words, but Jill didn't notice - she was too intent at looking at something on Harry's forehead.

“Wow, how did you get that scar?”

Hermione looked over to Harry quickly, and watched as his face lost all traces of happiness instantly.

“When I was a baby, my parents and I were in a car crash. I was the only one to survive.” Harry turned and swam back into the middle of the pool, away from them quickly before they could reply.

“Oh God! Sorry... Does he always act like that when someone asks about it?”

“Sometimes. It's been a bit harder lately, because his godfather just died and the guy who killed his parents is back.”

“What do you mean, back?”

“Uh, released from jail.”

“Oh man, how unlucky can you get?”

“Hopefully not much more,” Hermione muttered.

“Well, hey, I have to go, but maybe the girls and I will come over some.”

“Yeah, that sounds great! I'd love for Harry to meet some of my old friends.”

Harry watched as Jill left and then Hermione swam over to him. She put her arms around Harry's neck and looked into his deep green eyes.

“I'm so sorry about what Jill said, I'm not even really friends with her. We just grew up next to each other, and now I seem stuck with her and a few of the other girls from around the neighbourhood.”

“It's not your fault or Jill's... it's just been a hard year.”

“I know, I told her. Let's get off a sad subject, okay? Jill said she and a few of the other girls are going to come over sometime.”

“That sounds like fun. Now, I'll race you to the slide!”

-->

9. Happy Birthday Harry

A/N: Hello everyone I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story again. But I have had two family members die in the last month. One of which was last week and on my birthday. So RL hasn't been very good lately. To everyone who is also reads my other story Arranged I am working on the next chapter of that but the writing was set back during everything that happened last week.

I hope everyone likes this chapter and as a side note with the next chapter the rating of this will go up to R.

So Read and Review please!

Chapter 8

Happy Birthday Harry

Harry and Hermione spent most of the day at the pool. The rest of the week went by much the same. Some of Hermione's friends came over; they all seemed very interested in Harry until Hermione told them he had a girlfriend. Harry had his dream about Sirius a lot less, but that may have been because Hermione was sleeping in his room every other night. And on one of these nights Hermione told Harry that she loved him and he told her that he loved her too. That night was one of the few nights Harry had a sound sleep where he only dreamed of good things, not death and destruction. But he also feared that because he loved Hermione and she loved him that he could be signing her death warrant. But he somehow pushed that thought out of his head because only good things happened when he was with her. And before Harry knew it, it was the day before his birthday. Hermione told him that she wasn't able to spend the night with him because she thought her dad was getting wise to them.

Harry said goodnight to Mr. & Mrs. Granger and he and Hermione walked to their rooms

“Goodnight Harry.”

“Night Hermione, are you sure you can't stay the night?”

“Yeah we wouldn't want my dad to catch us. Night Harry sweet dreams.”

Harry leaned down and kissed Hermione lightly on the lips and then walked to their rooms.

Harry lay in bed and watched the clock beside his bed.

11:55

He had five minutes till he was sixteen.

11:56

Time seemed to be going in slow motion.

11:57

He wished Hermione was in bed beside him.

11:58

Harry saw his bedroom door open and Hermione walk in.

11:59

He saw a small flame in her hand as she sat beside Harry.

12:00

“Happy Birthday Harry, make a wish.”

Hermione had a cupcake in her hand that had a lit candle stuck in it. Harry sat up, closed his eyes and made a wish. He hoped above all hope that his wish would come true.

“Thank you Hermione.” Harry leaned over and kissed her. “Are you going to stay?”

“Yes, is that what you wished for?”

“Maybe, I'm not telling.” That wasn't what he wished for but he wasn't about to tell her what he did wish for. That was something that no matter how much he loved her he could not bring himself to tell her.

“Here eat your cake.”

“Split it with me.” Harry split the cupcake into two parts and handed one piece to Hermione.

They both ate their half of the cupcake quickly and when they finished Hermione hopped over Harry and took her spot beside him. Harry lay back down on the bed and Hermione curled up next to him like always. And soon they were fast asleep.

************

Harry woke finding himself on a bench in an all white room.

“Hi Harry.”

Harry turned to see Sirius standing next to him. Harry put his hands on his head and started yelling.

“I WILL NOT HAVE THIS DREAM. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I WILL NOT HAVE THIS DREAM.”

Sirius walked over and put his hand on Harry's. Harry looked up, this had never happened in his dream.

“It's not a dream Harry.”

“If it's not a dream than it's its…Voldemort playing a trick on me.” Harry stuttered

“Harry, Voldemort's not even this creative. Plus when you spent the summer holiday with me and someone would wake up my mother she would start yelling about how she didn't want Hermione in the house. Mudblood I believe was her favorite thing to call her.”

Harry knew this was true and he wanted this to be real so much but he still knew this could be a trick. He decided that if he said anything odd or unlike him he'd know that this was a trick.

“Ok so where are we?”

“Let's call it limbo. You see you're not dead and I'm not alive so we're in limbo. A place where the alive and dead can meet.”

“So why do we need to meet?”

Sirius sat down beside Harry before he spoke.

“I need to tell you to stop blaming yourself for my death. I could have stayed back at the house but I didn't. It's was my fault I died not yours. You've got to believe me when I tell you this; you'll never beat Voldemort if you don't.”

Harry just stared at him. If this was Voldemort playing a trick on him then why would he be telling him all this, Harry knew that this was a real as anything else in his life thus far.

“If I hadn't have gone then-”

“If you hadn't destroyed the prophecy then Voldemort would have found a way to get his hands on it and then we would be in a lot more trouble. Now look we don't have much time left. Harry I brought you a birthday present.” Sirius stood up and pointed to one of the white walls, and out of nowhere two people started to walk toward them.

Harry knew who they were at once. He got up and ran to them.

“Mum, Dad!”

“Oh Harry, James look how much he's grown. Harry I'm sorry we didn't make it and you had to go and live with Petunia.” Lilly pulled her son into a big hug.

“Well if someone hadn't gone after Peter he might not have had to live with those people.” James was looking at Sirius as he spoke.

“Hey he killed my best friend and his wife what did you think I'd do.”

“Oh would you two shut up.” Lily snapped.

“But he is a chip off the old block though, plays quidditch like me too.”

“He has my eyes James.” Lily said as she looked Harry over.

Harry loved this, watching his parents and Sirius interact this is what it could have been like if the all were alive.

“Harry let me give you some manly advice. Stick to that Hermione she's a good girl, she's always right. She's like your mother.”

“James that almost sounded like a bad thing.” Lily said as she raised an eyebrow.

“It's not. But Harry you two are going to go through a lot but just trust the love between you. And remember she's a keeper.”

“James you know that we're not supposed to tell him anything he doesn't already know. Plus I don't think it's a good idea to put those kinds of thoughts in his head.” Lily scolded.

“Well sweetheart as far as I can tell he already has had those kinds of ideas for that girl.”

“Hey I'd hate to break this up but it's time for us to go. Bye Harry, have a good birthday.” Sirius walked up and gave Harry a hug goodbye.

“Bye Harry. Give a kiss to that girlfriend of yours for me. And tell her about the prophecy - you need to tell someone because I fear if you don't it might eat you alive.”

James hugged his son one last time and when they pulled apart Harry could see a tear falling down his father's check.

“Oh my baby boy, I love you so much, you never forget that. James I don't think I can leave him again. I love you Harry, happy birthday.” Lily had tears running down her face as she hugged Harry one last time.

She then walked into her husbands waiting arms. Harry had tears on his face too but he didn't care he didn't want to say goodbye.

“I love you too Mum, Dad, Sirius. I love you all.” Harry felt like he was being pulled backward, he could see them getting farther and farther away until they were gone.

*****

“Harry what's wrong did you have the dream again?”

Harry woke to Hermione voice; he realized he was sitting straight up in bed his shirt wet from sweat. He was back in his room and Hermione had her hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her and even in the dark he could see the worry on her face.

“No. But I did just talk to Sirius and my mum and dad.”

“What? Are you sure it…it wasn't Voldemort?”

“Yeah I'm sure.” Harry started to tell Hermione what had happened in limbo. He did leave out the stuff about the prophecy though because he wanted to tell her in his own words. After he finished telling her what happened he kissed her light on the forehead.

“What was that for?”

“It's from my dad.”

“I still think it's weird that they know about us.”

“Yeah just a bit. Hermione there is something else I need to tell you.”

“About your dream?”

“Well yes and no this happened before school ended.” Harry said as he drew his knees up to his chest.

“Harry you can tell me.” Hermione said as she took his hand in hers.

“I know I just need to find the right words.”

“Okay.”

“After Sirius died Dumbledore took me to his office where I destroyed some of his things by throwing them across the room.”

“Harry.”

“I know but I was upset. But that's not the point. Dumbledore told me what that glass ball was at the ministry.”

“What was it?” Hermione questioned.

“It was a prophecy about me and Voldemort.” Harry said slowly.

“Well since it broke I guess we'll never know what it said.”

“No I know what it said.”

“How?”

“Dumbledore was there when the prophecy was first made by Professor Trelawney.”

Hermione made a snorted laugh.

“'Mione this one isn't like the ones she would make in class, this was a real prophecy that came true and is still coming true.”

“So what did it say?” Hermione said as she started to bite her bottom lip.

“The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.”

“Neither can live while the other survives.” Hermione muttered.

She knew what it all meant, that she could loose Harry to Voldemort. She always knew that there was a chance but this made it to real.

“The thing is I was not the only boy to be born at the end of July.”

“Then how come it's you not the other boy. And who is the other boy?”

“It's Neville. And it couldn't be him because Voldemort marked me not him.” Harry picked up Hermione's hand and ran one of her fingers over his scar.

“Does Neville know?”

“No and I don't think we should tell him because he doesn't need to know something that doesn't apply to him.”

“You're right but Harry you are going to…to.” Hermione started to cry the thought of what Harry would have to do.

“I know so my life will contain a murder, either mine or me killing Voldemort.”

“Harry you will beat him because I won't lose you now, I love you too much to lose you.”

“I love you to Hermione.” Harry put his arms around her and Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. “And I will beat him because I don't want to leave you. My dad was right.”

“About what?”

“He said if I didn't tell someone soon that the prophecy would slowly eat me away. Now I feel better, it was starting to eat away at me.”

Hermione held him tightly and he leaned into her and felt her breath on his chest.

“Lets go back to sleep `Mione.”

“Okay.”

They laid back down but this time they stayed very much wrapped up in each other. They both quickly went to sleep soon after their heads hit the pillow.

Harry woke the next morning to see the sun shining brightly in his room. He looked down to at Hermione, their bodies were so tangled together that he could not tell were his body started and hers ended.

“You finally awake Harry.”

“Mmm yeah what time is it?”

“10:00 what do you want to do for your birthday?”

“Stay here with you.” Harry leaned down and kissed her.

“Mmmm I'd love to but I'm starving. So how about you take a shower and get dressed and meet me in my room.” Hermione got out of bed and pulled Harry with her then pushed him toward his bathroom.

Hermione then went to her room. Harry walked into his bathroom and brushed his teeth, took a shower, and then got dressed. Harry walked across the hall and knocked on Hermione's door.

“Come in Harry.”

Harry opened the door and walked in. Hermione was in the bathroom putting on a little makeup. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was wearing jean shorts and a bra. Harry sat down on the bed and watched as Hermione walked out of the bathroom. All Harry could seem to focus on was the white lace bra she was wearing. Hermione picked up the pink shirt that was hanging on the back of a chair and put it on but didn't button it up.

“Harry, earth to Harry.”

“Hmm.”

“Why are you staring at me like you've never seen me in a bra?”

Harry pulled his eyes away from her bra and looked into her eyes.

“I don't know I guess you just look sexy.”

“Harry you've seen me in a bikini almost everyday what's so different about this.”

“It's the fact that it's so forbidden and then that it's lace helps.” Harry put his hands on Hermione's bare waist and pulled her to him.

“How am I supposed to button up my shirt with your hands there?”

“You're not.” Harry lightly kissed Hermione's stomach.

“Harry come on I want to go eat.” Hermione pulled back and started to button her shirt as Harry started to frown with each button that she did. Hermione grabbed Harry's hands and pulled him off the bed.

“Give me a piggy back ride to the kitchen.”

“Yeah alright hop on.”

Hermione hopped on Harry's back and he carried her to the kitchen. But right before Harry walked in Hermione put her hands over Harry's glasses so he couldn't see.

“Hermione move your hands I can't see I might run into a wall.”

“No you won't just keep walking.'

“Hermione I don't think this is sa-”

“SURPRISE!!!”

Harry jumped back with shock. In front of him were Mr. & Mrs. Granger, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. Harry couldn't believe that they had come here for his birthday. Hermione slid off Harry's back and then got on her tiptoes and whispered into Harry's ear.

“Surprise.”

Harry started to smile he was really happy. The twins came over and patted Harry on the back as Hermione walked over and helped her mother.

“Happy Birthday Harry.”

“Yeah Happy Birthday. Fred and I would like to thank you for helping us start our business so we have decided...”

“We? You mean me.” Fred interrupted

“I mean you and me Fred, we both came up with the idea. It was really me.” George said with a wink.

“Was not!”

“Was too!”

“Guys calm down what did you come up with?”

Fred and George looked at each other then at Harry.

“That you can get anything from our store for free.” Fred and George managed to say together to Harry followed by a big smile. Then George nudged Fred.

“Oh right here's your present.” Fred handed Harry a box.

“Open it.” George said with an odd smile on his face. And they both watch Harry closely as he took the box.

“Harry don't!” Hermione came running over and took the box from Harry. “Maybe you should open this one outside.” Hermione looked at the twins as she spoke.

“Just because we gave you an exploding present once doesn't mean we would give one to Harry.” Fred eyes never left the box as he spoke and George just nodded in agreement.

“I think Hermione's right I'll just wait and open later outside, hopefully a safe distance away.”

Hermione carefully set the box on the table. Fred and George turned and walked away mumbling something about `miss know it all always spoiling their fun'.

Mr. Weasley came over and shook Harry's hand and Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Then Ginny gave Harry a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Ginny move.” Ron came over and pushed Ginny out of the way and gave his best friend a hug. “Happy Birthday Harry. How's your holiday been?”

“Not too bad.” Harry gave a side ways glance at Hermione as he spoke. “You?”

“Been practicing quidditch with Ginny.”

“Sounds like fun.” Harry knew that what he just said wasn't right by the face Ron made.

“Harry, Hermione why don't you two give the Weasleys a tour of the house while we finish setting up.”

“Ok Mum.”

Harry and Hermione walked out of the kitchen followed closely by the Weasley family. They show them the downstairs area and then their rooms. Mr. Weasley constantly stopping to look at things and would mutter about the things that muggles come up with. When they all reached the third floor the twins mouths opened as they ran for the pool table and Ron and Ginny headed to the air hockey table. Mr. & Mrs. Weasley however just stood there staring at the sight in front of them until Mrs. Weasley sank into one of the arm chairs and Mr. Weasley started to ask Harry how things worked.

“Oh my Merlin would you look at all this muggle stuff, I've only seen most of these things in books. Now how exactly does this work?”

“The TV…well.” Harry tried to find the right words on how to describe how the TV worked which is a lot harder than it seems.

Yet some how Harry figured how to explain how the picture got on the TV but what he didn't expect was all the questions about the remote control. It seemed that Mr. Weasley had more questions about the remote then the rest of the TV and trying to explain a laser to someone who has never heard of it before is not easy.

“Brilliant all you have to do is hit this button and the `channel' will change. You never have to get up!”

Thankfully Harry was saved from having to explain how the air hockey table worked when Mrs. Ganger called them down to eat. Harry and Hermione let everyone else go down the stairs first before they left the den Harry pulled her close.

“Thank you `Mione.”

“Harry it's your birthday what did you think I was going to do?”

“I don't know but I'm so happy to have the people I love most in the world here -especially you.” Harry leaned down and kissed Hermione lightly on the lips. “Now all we have to do is get Ron away from everyone else and tell him about us.”

“Harry not today it would be too hectic, let's tell him when we go get our school supplies when it's calmer.”

“Yeah okay.” Harry leaned down and hugged his girlfriend one more time before they headed down stairs.

They reached the bottom of the stairs as Ron was walking back out of the kitchen.

“Hey what took you two so long?”

“Just cleaning up some of the stuff you guys took out.” Hermione said with a smile as they walked back into the kitchen. “Come on everything's out back.”

The back patio was covered in balloons, streamers and a banner that said

`Happy Birthday Harry'

That was magically hanging in the air. There was a long table with chairs around it and it was covered in food. Then there was another table that was small and round that had wrapped presents covering it. Harry went to sit at one of the chairs at the side of the table when Hermione made him sit at the head of the table because it was his day. Hermione took the chair to his left, Ginny sat beside her, Mrs. Weasley sat beside her daughter, and Mrs. Granger sat beside Mrs. Weasley. Ron sat to Harry's right, Fred and George sat beside him, Mr. Weasley sat beside the twins and Mr. Granger took the chair at the other end of the table. They all ate and talked happily, Mr. Granger had to answer endless questions from Mr. Weasley and every now and again you could hear the laughter at the other end of the table from the men. Mrs. Granger and Mrs. Weasley were exchanging recipes and the twins were talking about their business. Hermione and Ginny were talking about the latest gossip, while Harry and Ron talked about this year's quidditch team. Harry and Hermione would play glancing games with each other as the spoke to Ron or Ginny. After everyone finished eating Hermione stood and tapped her knife on the side of her glass to get everyone's attention.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming to Harry's birthday party I know what it means to him to have all the people he's love near him today. We've all known Harry for five years and we have all seen the ups and down's he's been through in those five years. But yet of all the things that have change the one thing that remains the same is that we are all better people for having Harry in our lives. He makes us laugh and cry, saved our lives, mine a few times, and helped some of us realize our dreams come true. And for that I would like to wish you Harry Potter a very happy birthday.” Hermione's was followed by `here here's' from everyone at the table.

Harry stood up and hugged and lightly kissed Hermione on the cheek.

“Thank you.” He whispered quietly in her ear.

“Well it's the truth.” Hermione kissed him on the cheek again before he sat back down.

“Now how about you open your presents.” Hermione leaned over to the other table and grabbed a present off of it and handed it to Harry.

The first present was from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and it was a black knitted sweater with matching gloves and a scarf. The next present was from Mr. & Mrs. Granger and it was a disc man with a few CD's that he knew Hermione helped pick out. Ginny gave Harry a huge box of every flavor beans that Mr. Granger tried and unfortunately for him he got dirt.

Mr. Weasley helped by opening the box from the twins with his wand and after the blue smoke diapered Harry found that it contained a wizard radio. Ron had given him 16 chocolate frogs saying one for each birthday. Harry opened Hermione's gift last, it was a book called `The best quidditch moves ever made' that had to be at least a thousand pages long. Harry thanked everyone immensely for the gifts, and then Fred and George stood and put an invisibility and silencing charm over the back yard and let off some of the fireworks that had made them famous at Hogwarts.

“Open it.” Hermione leaned over and told Harry in a soft whisper.

“Ok.” Harry opened the book Hermione had given him and inside there was a written note that said:

Dear Harry

Happy Birthday

This is not your only present from me

The other I will give you later.

All my Love,

Hermione

Harry gave her a quick smile and wondered what his second present was and why she could not give it to him now.

Before he knew it, it was time for the Weasleys to go back to the Burrow and they all walked in the living room and all one by one stepped into the fireplace, which had become big enough to stand in, and disappeared into green flames.

After the Weasleys left Harry and Hermione took Harry's presents to his room while Hermione's parents cleaned up.

“So were you surprised?” Hermione asked as they entered his room.

“No I knew.”

“WHAT?!? HOW DID YOU FIND OUT?” Hermione's eyes were bulging out of her head with anger.

“Kidding.” Harry let out a roar of laughter as he watched Hermione. “Man you should have seen the look on your face. I really wish you would stop hitting me.” Harry had tears running down his face as Hermione hit him in the arm.

“That's not funny; I worked really hard to get that to happen.”

Harry tried to pull her into a hug but Hermione wouldn't let him.

“Oh come on `Mione. I was really surprised it's been the best birthday ever.”

“Really?”

“Yes really. Hey what did that note mean? That was not my only present.”

Hermione started to quickly blush

“You'll have to wait and see.”

“How long will I have to wait?”

“Till tomorrow.”

“Ok as long as I don't have to wait long.” Harry pulled Hermione into a hug and this time she didn't fight him. Hermione leaned up and kissed Harry lightly on the lips.

“Happy Birthday.”

Harry loved the way her breath felt against his skin, it was one of the few things that could calm him no matter what. After the kissed again one last time they headed back downstairs to find Mr. Granger stuffing the last piece of wrapping paper into the trash.

“Are you two ready to go?”

“Ah were we going?”

“Birthday surprise number two.” Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and led him to the car sitting in the driveway. “Get in.”

Harry climbed in and Hermione got in after him, Mr. and Mrs. Granger got in the car and soon they were on their way down the road. When the car finally slowed down and started to turn Harry saw their destination.

-->

10. The second present

An: Hello everyone well here it is the chapter that makes the whole story go to R. Again I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and I am answering them as I post this. As always please review because I do love to hear what you think about the story. Lastly this is because I haven't done this in a few chapter but in case you didn't know I don't own these characters JKR does. If I did I would have sooo much more money then I do.

Chapter 9

The second present

The Fun Park was a new experience for Harry; He had heard Dudley boast about how exciting they were and he was eager to see for himself. He couldn't wait to get out of the car and go play. There was so much stuff; neon lights, putt-putt, race cars, water games, and loads of arcade games. Harry was so excited that he thought he was going to burst. When they got out of the car Harry hugged Mr. and Mrs. Granger and picked Hermione up and hugged her while spinning around.

“Thank you so much.”

“Harry you've never been to one of these before?” Mrs. Granger asked she watched the young man spin with her daughter in his arms.

“No never. I never got to go anywhere with the Dursleys they made me stay with a neighbor whenever they went anywhere.” Harry had the biggest smile on his face as he put Hermione back down on solid ground.

“Oh Harry that's horrible.” Mrs. Granger felt terrible for him. What kind of people would leave this nice young man with some neighbor for fifteen years of his life?

They were all walking into the fun park when Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and le d him to the race cars.

Harry and Hermione each got into a car, while Mr. and Mrs. Granger took a place to watch the two, and waited for the green light.

“Harry no cheating.” Hermione yelled over the sound of the engine.

Harry smirked “I would never.”

“Yeah right!”

The light turned green and they were off. Harry could hear Mr. Granger cheering him on and Mrs. Granger cheering on Hermione as they went around the first turn. Harry had just pulled in front of Hermione when it happened.

He could feel his scar start to burn. The pain got worst quickly and his vision went blurry, he threw his hands over his scar as the pain felt like his head was going to split in two. Harry felt the car hit the guardrail and he could hear Hermione scream. Then everything went black.

Harry could hear voices but still couldn't see, but he didn't need to see to know whose voices he heard.

“I'm sorry my Lord I could not find him.” It was Bellatrix, her voice trembled as she spoke, she was afraid.

“Where is he? For fifteen years he's lived and I want him taken out!” Lord Voldemort yelled as he hit his hand on a table which caused Bellatrix to whimper.

“My Lord I'll go back out and look for him and find him this time.”

“Wait! I feel him. Where are you Potter?”

Harry let his mind go, clearing it of all thought, he couldn't let Voldemort find him now that he was with Hermione and the Grangers. He could feel himself rush back as he heard voices around him.

“Go call an ambulance.”

“No I'm fine.” Harry croaked as he opened his eyes to see Hermione sitting beside him holding his hand. He realized he was out of the car and lying on the ground with Mr. and Mrs. Granger were on the other side of him. Harry slowly sat up and rubbed his scar.

“Harry I think we should get you to a doctor.”

“No Mr. Granger I'll be fine this has happened before.”

“Harry.” Hermione's voice was barley above a whisper. “Was it umm.”

“Yeah I'll tell you about it later.'

“Mum, Dad he'll be fine.”

Hermione stood up and helped Harry up. But for some reason his knees didn't want to hold him and he leaned on Hermione as she helped to steady him.

“Thanks Hermione.”

Harry finally was able to get control of his knees but Hermione still held his hand as they walk to the restaurant inside the fun park.

“How about we eat and then go home so you can rest.” Mrs. Granger stated as they sat.

“No I would rather stay and have fun. Plus I'm fine now.” Harry could tell that what he just said did not convince Mrs. Granger.

“Mum Harry's fine. He has had this before at school and the best thing for them is for him to get back to normal.”

“Still I wish we weren't going away tomorrow.”

Harry just looked at Mrs. Granger he had no clue what she was talking about.

“Um where are you going?”

“Oh Hermione didn't tell you.” Mrs. Granger looked at her daughter and Hermione shook her head blushing slightly. “Well we have a dentist convention that we have to attend. Two days in London so you two will have to take care of yourselves. We leave early tomorrow morning so we won't see you after tonight.”

“Oh ok well have fun.”

They each ordered a burger and talked about what the Grangers did at their dentist convention while Hermione continued to hold Harry's hand under the table.

Then they went and played all the games they could find and even got in a round of mini golf. By 9:30 they were walking back out to the car with their arms filled with stuff they won. Harry had won a particular large stuffed lion that he gave to Hermione and she was struggling to carry it because it was so big. They all climbed in the car and head home with the lion stretched across Harry and Hermione's laps. And by the time they got home Hermione had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder. Mrs. Granger open Harry's door and took out the lion so he could get out.

“I'll carry her into her room.”

“Ok Harry are you sure you can manage?” Mr. Granger asked as he watched the boy lift his daughter from the car.

Harry nodded as he stood up with Hermione in his arms and walk into the house while Mr. and Mrs. Granger carried the stuff they won at the fun park.

“I'll take her to her room and then go to bed myself.”

“Ok Harry goodnight and we'll see you in a few days.” Mrs. Granger said.

“'Night.” Harry walked up the stairs with Hermione in his arms. He walked into her room and carefully placed her on the bed and drew back the covers before he started to cover her up.

“Harry.” She asked sleepily.

“Yes Hermione.”

“Can you get my night shirt please?” Hermione said as she pointed to the shirt on the chair.

“Sure.” Harry walked over to the chair and picked up the tee shirt off the chair and turned back to see Hermione pulling off her pants and throwing them to the floor.

“Oh, ah, here.” Harry looked at the floor as he stretched out his hand holding the shirt.

“Will you help me Harry?”

“What?” Harry looked up at Hermione as she took his hand and pulled him close to her.

“Help me.” Hermione took Harry's free hand and put it on the edge of her shirt and helped him lift it over her head. Harry looked down at Hermione and smiled as he kissed her and then slowly put on the tee shirt she slept in.

“Goodnight.” Harry kissed her one more time and headed to the door.

“Goodnight Harry.”

Harry turned and looked at her before he shut the door and could see her pulling off her bra through her sleeve. He closed the door and walked quickly across the hall into his room. After Harry removed his clothes, leaving him in only in his boxers as he too crawled into bed.

Harry woke several hours later to find Hermione crawling into bed next to him and even with out his glasses he could tell it was still dark out side.

“What time is it?” He asked her.

“4:30 my parents just left, we have the house to ourselves.”

“Mmmm I'd love to stay up but I'm so tired.”

“Me too, lets just sleep.” Hermione said as she curled up next to Harry.

She woke to find herself completely wrapped around Harry. Her legs were tangled with his, her hands resting on his chest and his arms wrapped around her body. Hermione felt so safe and warm in his arms. She looked out the window to see the sun shining brightly outside, and then tilted her head up to read the clock on the bedside table.

“So what time is it Hermione?”

Hermione moved slightly to see Harry's big green eyes staring down at her.

“Its 10:48 how long have you been awake?”

“Not long. I love you Hermione.” Harry leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“I love you too Harry.” Hermione lightly kissed Harry's chest, which sent shivers through his body.

“So when do I get my second present?” Harry asked trying to keep his mind off the sensation that Hermione had just caused in his body.

“It'll be ready in a little bit. What do you want to do till the present's ready?”

“Stay in bed with you.”

“I'd love to but we should get up.” Hermione started to get out of bed when Harry pulled her back down on top of him.

“I don't want to let you go yet.”

“Harry!” Hermione squealed, “Oh shut up and kiss me.'

“I can do that.” Harry put his hand on the back of Hermione's head and brought her down into a kiss.

“Mmmm ok now we have to get up. Let's grab a bite to eat and the go to the pool.”

“Ok.” Harry reluctantly got out the bed with Hermione.

“I'll race you to the kitchen.”

Hermione ran to the door taking off her night shirt and throwing it on the floor and was working on her underwear when she entered her room. Harry couldn't help but watch her. When he finally couldn't see her he pulled off his boxers and grabbed his trunks and shoved them on. He was in the doorway when Hermione came running out of her room trying to put her bikini top on. Harry stopped dead in his tracks; he couldn't believe what he just saw but quickly got back to his senses and ran after her. She had reached the bottom of the stairs when Harry had reached the top but he ran as fast as he could down the stairs but it was too late she was already in the kitchen.

“You so cheated.” Harry panted.

“And how did I cheat Mr. Potter?” Hermione said a little breathless.

“You weren't fully dressed when you left your room.”

“Well you didn't seem to mind by the way you were staring at me.”

“Ahh well it's just that …”

“Oh Harry I don't care if you saw me topless, besides I've seen you completely naked. Now we're even.”

Harry could see her go a little pink but she was right now they were even.

“So what do you want to eat?” Hermione asked as she walked to the fridge.

“I don't know something light though.”

“How about a banana?” She asked looking back over her shoulder.

“Sounds good toss one here.”

Hermione threw Harry a banana and got one for herself. After they finished they walked out to the pool. Harry was about to get in when Hermione stopped him.

“What?”

“Let's go and get in the hot tub.”

“Ok.” Harry started to walk to the hot tub when Hermione stopped him again. “What now?”

“The indoor one Harry.”

“Oh.”

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and lead him to the hot tub. She then proceed to turn on the hot tub and slowly got in and pulled Harry with her. They sat there for a few moments in silence before Harry spoke up.

“So why did you want to use this one?”

“So I can do this.” Hermione climbed into Harry's lap, straddling his waist and started kissing him.

This time she didn't hold back, she ran her hands through his hair and the over his chest just feeling his body. She let her tongue dart out to meet his and ground her hips into his. Eliciting a moan from Harry.

Harry let his hands wander up Hermione's back and to the string that held her bikini top on. Just as he started to pull it undone Hermione pulled away from Harry and look at him. Both were breathing harder than normal making their chest touch with every in take of air.

“Your presents ready come on.” Hermione got out of Harry's lap and pulled him out of the hot tub. She quickly led him to their bedrooms and pushed him in his. “Now go and dry off and get dressed and then come to my room.”

“Okay.”

Hermione ran into her room and shut the door behind her. Harry walked into his room and took off his wet trunks and put on a pair of boxers a shirt and then shorts. He sat on the edge of his bed and then fell back and looked at the ceiling. He ran his hand through his hair and stopped half way through and let his thoughts run wild in his head.

`Why did Hermione just stop like that?'

`You know why.'

`I shouldn't have tried to undo her top. I was going too fast.'

`Bingo.'

`I hope she's not mad.'

`I would be if I were her.'

`Oh shut up.'

Harry slowly sat up, pushed all thoughts out of his head and walked to Hermione's door. Harry stood outside her door for a moment fighting the urge to slam his head into the wall and knocked on the door. He could hear Hermione moving inside her room and, after leaning forward slightly, it sounded like she was moving farther away from the door and then she spoke.

“Come in.”

Harry opened the door and took a step in but didn't get much further than that.

There were candles everywhere and Hermione was standing in front of her bed wearing a short silk nighty. Hermione walked over to Harry, who was still standing just inside the doorway, and went up on her tip toes and whispered in his ear.

“Surprise.”

Harry could feel Hermione's breath on his neck followed by her lips.

“Hermione what is all of this?” Harry couldn't believe he just said that, he knew what this was.

“It's your birthday present.”

“Hermione I can't believe I'm going to say this but you don't have to give me this as a present. Plus we don't have…um…anything.” Harry said as he felt what little blood that hadn't traveled south, rise to his cheeks.

“Harry I would do this with you even if it weren't your birthday and it's because I love you with all my heart, there is something inside of me that tells me we should do this. And yes we do have something because my mum put me on the pill when I… uh… well you know, so that way if someone were to try something at school I would be ok.”

Harry took a step toward Hermione and pulled her into his arms.

“Are you sure?” He asked as he searched her eyes.

“Harry I have never been more sure of anything in my life.” Hermione pulled Harry into a kiss as she started to pull off his shirt.

They stopped kissing long enough to throw his shirt to the floor as Hermione started working on his pants. Harry felt his pants slide down his legs as he started pull Hermione's nightie into his hands. When he felt his hands against her bare skin he looked down to see she wasn't wearing underwear. Hermione, after giving him a knowing smile, put her arms in the air and he carefully lifted the garment off of her and threw it to the floor. Harry stood there for a moment looking at her for the first time truly naked and he felt his boxers getting tighter than they had ever been before. She started kissing him again as she pushed his boxers to the floor with the rest of their clothing. Hermione couldn't stop herself from looking down at Harry naked again. But this time it was different Hermione felt a blush creep up on her cheeks.

“Can I?” Hermione asked timidly as her cheeks turned even pinker.

Harry not trusting his own voice just nodded as he felt her hand creep down to his erection. Slowly Hermione wrapped her hand around him but quickly let go when Harry let out a throaty moan.

“Did I hurt you?” Hermione asked.

“No far from it. Here.” Harry lightly placed Hermione's hand back on him slowly showing her how to move her hand.

After removing his hand from her Harry let Hermione stroke him for a few moments before he, once again, placed his hand over hers bringing her to a stop.

“You have to stop.” Harry said breathlessly.

“Why?” Hermione asked as she looked up at him biting her lip.

“Because if you don't I'll…um…”

“Oh.” Hermione said as she removed her hand.

As they started kissing again Harry walked them to the bed. Hermione could feel his erection pressed against her hip as her knees hit the mattress. Harry picked her up in his arms and laid her down gently on the bed and climbed on top of her.

“Hermione.

“Yes Harry?” Hermione said as she looked up at Harry.

“Can I touch you?” He asked as he looked into her eyes.

“MmmHmm.”

Harry slowly slid his hand over Hermione's breast making the nipples erect. Then let his hand make its way from her breast to the junction between her legs. But before he descended below the curls of hair Hermione placed her hand on top of his.

“I want to show you where to go.” She said quietly, her face becoming pinker.

Harry nodded as he let Hermione's hand direct him where to go. At first the only thing he felt was a raised bump, that made Hermione gasp when his fingers ran over it, but then, as his hand moved further down, a slick substance covered his fingers.

“That will make it easier for you to move inside me.” Hermione answered his unasked question.

“But where do I…?” Harry asked uncertainly.

“Right here.” Hermione said as she placed his hand in front of her entrance.

“But how will I…I mean it's small.” Harry stuttered.

Hermione smiled slightly. “It will stretch.”

“But won't that hurt?” Harry asked.

“Yes it will a little but only the first time.”

“Oh.” Harry said quietly as he felt his way around Hermione's sex.

Hermione lightly took Harry's hand away from her pulling his gaze back up to her. After a nod Harry, with a little help from Hermione, lined himself up.

“Harry.”

“Yes.”

“Go slow.”

“I will. I love you Hermione so very much and nothing will ever change that.”

“I love you too.”

Harry kissed Hermione's lip's again running tongue along the outside of her lips for access to her mouth. When she opened her mouth to him he slipped his tongue in and moved it around like he was searching for the snitch in her mouth. Harry left Hermione's mouth and kissed his way her neck flicking his tongue out to taste her skin every so often.

“Are you sure?” Harry said as he removed his lips from her neck.

“Yes.”

Harry slowly started to slip himself inside Hermione, as she bit her bottom lip and dug her nails into his back. Hermione felt a few tears start to fall from her eyes; they were tears of both joy and pain. Harry watch as the tears fall from her eyes and slowly started to kiss them away as they fell.

“I'm sorry for hurting you.”

“Don't be sorry Harry, never be sorry.”

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion, each kiss, each breath, and each touch. Hermione knew so much about so many things but at this moment with Harry none of that seemed important, that what she was doing with him would change everything somehow. And she liked that feeling, the feeling of loving Harry and him loving her. Little did she know Harry was having the same thoughts and feeling as she was. Hermione could feel her body start to tingle as tiny beads of sweat start to form on her and Harry's bodies. She started to push her hips to him as he pushed into her. The pain she had once felt was now being replaced by a feeling of warmth. Harry was now kissing her neck tasting the sweet sweaty taste of her skin as she moved her hands into his hair and started pulling it lightly and then pulled his mouth back up to hers. The warmth that Hermione had first felt was now traveling through her whole body as Harry pushed inside her. His breathing became heavier as Hermione slowly started to moan.

“Are you ok?”

“Y-Yess.” Hermione was barely able to get the words out. “Faster.”

Harry pushed faster as Hermione leaned her head back and started to moan louder while his breathing got heavier and heavier against her skin. Her hands traveling down Harry's back as her legs wrapped around his waist pushing him deeper inside of her. Harry slid one of his hands down resting it on her thigh and the other on the side of her chest while he kissed her neck and chest.

Harry let out a throaty moan before he collapsed on top of Hermione. His head coming to rest where her neck met her shoulder.

Their breathing started to become slow and back to normal as Hermione ran her fingers through his hair as his face moved to rest on her chest. As she thought about what they had just done and how to her it at taken an eternity, she knew in reality it had probably only last five minutes. But to her it was a great five minutes.

After regaining some of his strength Harry turned his head and looked up at Hermione.

“I love you so much Hermione.” He leaned up and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“I love you too Harry.” Hermione put her hands on the side of Harry's face and pulled him fully back on top of her. “I want to sleep, stay with me.”

“I would never think of leaving.” Hermione rolled on to her side as Harry wrapped his arms around her pulling her close like they had been doing for weeks. Sleep took them quickly as the thought of what they just did raided their minds.

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11. Sometimes you just shouldn't ask questions

A/N: Ok I've changed the rating back to PG-13. The R rating was for the last chapter and the rest of the story won't really have any scenes like that. It will all be more like this chapter. Which I'm giving a hard PG-13 after this there shouldn't be another chapter like this for some time. I hope you all like this chapter and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 10

Sometimes you just shouldn't ask questions

Harry woke to find his arms empty, of the warmth of Hermione and all the candles blown out. He could hear the shower running from the open bathroom door. After putting on his glasses, he got out of bed and walked into the bathroom, not bothering to put on his boxers seeing as it was only himself and Hermione in the house. He could see her standing in the shower with water running over her body taking the suds from the shampoo with it. Harry walked over and opened the shower door.

“Care for some company?” Harry could see Hermione jumped a little when he spoke.

Hermione glanced over her shoulder at him. “As long as it's yours.”

Harry put his glasses on the counter as Hermione pulled him into the shower with her. The water soaked his body as he looked at Hermione, whose hair was longer due to the weight of the water. Hermione ran her hand down Harry's chest following a stream of water, then slid her arm around his body pulling him close. Harry, in turn, put is arms around her shoulders and placed his chin where her neck and shoulder met. They stood like that letting the water fall over them like rain for what seemed to be an hour before Hermione pulled away.

“Let's get out of here.” Hermione reached around Harry and turned off the water before grabbing his hand and leading him out of the shower.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked her as tiny beads of water ran down her bare body.

“You'll see.” Hermione grabbed a bottle off the counter and then stopped Harry from grabbing a towel with a swat on the hand.

They walked out of the bedroom and down the hall dripping water on the carpet as they went. Hermione pulled Harry into her parents bedroom and then into the bathroom. She let go of his hand and walked up the few steps that lead to a huge bathtub. Hermione turned on the water and then dumped the contents of the bottle into the tub which released a lavender scent into the air.

After the tub filled a bit with water and bubbles Hermione turned, grabbed Harry's hand and lead him up the steps into tub with her. As if reading Hermione's mind, Harry stepped into the tub and sat down, Hermione promptly followed sitting down in his lap and leaned back on his chest. Hermione picked up Harry's hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

“Harry, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Well I just wanted to know if.”

“If what?”

“If I was your first?” Hermione spoke so softly that Harry barley heard her and he didn't really know how to answer her.

“Of course you are. Why would you think you weren't?”

“Because you're Harry Potter and girls throw themselves at you. So I figured that maybe you took one of them up on their offer.”

“You have a good point but you have to know that I would never take them up on their offers. Ok now I have a question for you.”

“Oh yeah what is it?”

“Was I yours?”

“HARRY! You horrible prat!” Hermione screeched as she laughed at Harry ridicules question.

“What? You asked me plus you did date Krum.”

Hermione rolled her eye's before answering. “Fine yes you were. Ok I've got another question for you. How many girls have you kissed?”

“And why would you want to know that?”

“Just curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Mischief brought it back. Now tell me.”

“Ok three including you.”

“Ok who were the other two, even though I know who one of them is?”

“My first kiss was with a girl named was Megan I was nine, but I don't think that really counts because she did it as a dare and then well there was Cho, you were there after that one. How about you?”

“Well three. Victor, you, and…” Hermione said the last name so quietly that Harry couldn't hear her.

“Who was the last person I couldn't hear you.”

“Why does it matter?”

“I told you mine it's only fair.”

“It was Ron.”

Hermione could feel Harry's body go tense underneath her.

“Weasley?”

“Yeah.”

“W-when?? How? Why didn't Ron tell me? He tells me everything and I mean everything most of the time he tells me too much.” Harry had sat up which made Hermione move to the other side of the tub and looked at her hands.

“Well it happened last summer when we were staying at the Order before you got there. One day when Ron and I were cleaning and he kissed me. I knew he had feelings but I never thought he'd do anything about it. After he kissed me I told him it wouldn't work. And then when you finally got there I knew I was meant to be with you that's why I was so happy to see you. But you were so angry about everything I knew that you weren't ready for my feelings so I waited. And when I kissed you at the Dursley's that morning it was good very good.” Hermione couldn't bear to look at Harry so she slid under the water to give him a minute to think. But no sooner was she under did she feel Harry's arms pulling her back above the water.

“Hey were did you go?” Harry asked as he pushed her hair out of her face and wiped the bubbles off her eyes.

“I thought you'd need a minute to think.”

“And why would I need a minute to think?”

“Because you're mad at me because I let Ron kiss me.”

“Hermione look at me.” Harry pulled Hermione into his lap so she was looking at him.

“I'm not mad. Ok a little weirded out that Ron kissed you and you are now kissing me.” Harry stuck his tongue out and shivered which made Hermione laugh. “But I do have one question who's the better kisser me or Ron?”

Hermione laughed harder and threw her arms around his neck.

“Well I'm still kissing you so does that answer your question.” Hermione leaned in and kissed Harry as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Harry pulled her closer to him as they kissed each other harder. Hermione leaned back into the tub and pulled Harry on top of her which made some water splash out of the tub.

“Make love to me Harry again and again and again until we can't do it anymore ok.”

“As you wish, I love you so much, I hope you know that.”

“I do and I love you too.” Hermione put her hand on the back of Harry's head and pulled him into a lip bruising kiss.

---------------

When they finally finished half the water that had been in the tub was now on the floor.

“Harry,” Hermione murmured into his neck. “I don't know about you but I'm starving.”

“Me too, well we have burned a lot of energy today and we only had bananas for breakfast.”

“True. Hmm I want to go get something to eat but I happen to love where I am.”

“Why don't we go and get something to eat and then if you want go back to your room.”

“Potter you read my mind.”

Harry slowly pushed himself off Hermione and then leaned down and pulled her up so she was standing with him in the tub. Harry watched as the bubbles that had clung to her skin when she stood up slowly make their way back to the tub. Harry couldn't help but kiss her hard and passionately.

“Harry if you keep this up we'll never make it downstairs ohhh.” Harry was now kissing her neck and down onto her shoulders.

Hermione finally found the will to push herself away and grabbed Harry's hand and lead him out of the tub, careful not to slip on the large amount of water on the floor. She then grabbed a towel from the closet and put it on Harry's head, shaking his hair dry before doing the same to hers. She then grabbed two more towels and handed one to Harry which he wrapped around his waist and the other she used to wrap around her body. Hermione threw a few more towels on the floor to sop up the water, then re-grabbed Harry's hand and lead him into the hall.

“So what do you want to eat?” Hermione asked as they made their way down stairs.

“I don't really care, what do you want?”

“Well mum and dad left money for food we can order pizza if you want.”

“Yeah let's do that. I can always eat pizza.”

“Ok what do you want on it?” They had made it the kitchen and she was dialing the number when she asked.

“Meat!” Harry threw his arms around Hermione's waist and started to kiss her neck.

“Harry I'm trying to - oh. Hello yes I'm placing an order for delivery. My number is 555-7309. Yes that's my address. We'd like a medium all meat pizza.”

“Get a large.” Harry lifted from Hermione's neck for a moment the started to kiss her shoulder.

“Can we make that a large please? Thank you. How long? See you then thank you.” Hermione hung up the phone and placed it on the counter. “We have thirty minutes before the pizza gets here. Take me.” And with that Hermione pulled the towel off Harry's waist and pushed him on the floor in one swift motion, and then jumped on top of him on the floor.

Ding Dong

“Harry where's my towel?”

“Right here.” Harry handed Hermione the towel and watched as she wrapped it around her body and as she walked to the door.

“Hello.”

“Hello. Hermione is that you?'

“Jim? Hi it's been a long time.”

“Yeah when I saw this order I thought it might be you. You've grown up.”

“Well I was thirteen the last time you saw me. Oh.” Hermione had just realized she was standing in front of him in only a towel.

“Hey Hermione it helps if you have the money to pay for the pizza. What's wrong?”

Harry could tell she was blushing and he saw the guy at the door straighten up.

“Ah Harry this is Jim we use to go to school together.”

Harry stuck out his hand and shook Jim's hand, which had a rather strong grip.

“Nice to meet ya Harry, how do you and Hermione know each other?”

“We go to school together.”

“Well I have to get back to work It was really nice to see you again Hermione, good to meet you Harry.” Jim handed Harry the pizza and he handed Jim the money.

“Bye.” Hermione shut the door and leaned up against it.

“Hey what's the matter?”

“That was Jim.”

“Yes that's how it seems.”

“No Harry you don't understand. Jim was in completely in love with me in school. When I came back one summer he wanted us to be boyfriend and girlfriend but I said no. And then he comes here and sees me in a towel and then you came out in a towel.”

“How old were you when this happened?”

“Thirteen.”

“Hermione honey.” Harry had to stop talking for a moment to suppress his laughter. “I think, well hope, that he's gotten over you.”

“So what in five years you'll be over me?”

“Yeah as long as it's in bed.”

“Ah as cheesy as that was thank you and I hope so too.” Hermione felt Harry move her hair and kiss the back of the neck. “Let's eat.”

“Ok.” Harry and Hermione walked into the kitchen and set everything up on the counter and then sat down and ate. When they finished eating there were only three slices left.

“Let's clean up and then go back upstairs.” Hermione was about pick up her glass when Harry took her hand.

“Lets skip the clean up and head upstairs, we can clean up tomorrow.” Harry pulled her to him and started kissing her while they walked toward the stairs.

“How can I say no to this?” Hermione started kissing Harry again as they started up the stairs. Half way up Hermione ran her hand down Harry's chest then down to towel and released it from his waist. And when they reached the hallway did the same to her towel. Right before they walked into her room Harry scooped Hermione up in his arms.

“Oh Harry.”

Harry carried Hermione through her room and lightly placed her on her bed and then crawled on top of her.

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12. The Day After

A/N: Ha! Just when you thought I had given up on this story I post a chapter. Yes I know it has been awhile since I posted on this story and I am sorry about that. I started a new story that kinda took over. Plus I had been writing on this story for over a year and really did need a break from it. Even though this is my baby, I love this story it was the one that got me into fanfiction and I will finish it. It just may take me awhile. I loved all of your reviews and am answering them as I post. I hope you all like this chapter I had a lot of fun with it. There is a bit of a different point of view here which makes thing fun. And yes because of HBP this isn't cannon but I never planned on this being a `cannon' fic. I would likely call this an Alternate Timeline fic. Because it does follow book 1-5 but after that it's all new. Ok as always I don't own HP JKR does. B/c if I did own it Harry and Hermione would have happened ;p On with the chapter!

Chapter 11

The day after

Harry woke the next morning to a brightly lit room and the feeling of Hermione's body partially on his. He could feel her breath on his chest and her bare skin on his. He loved this, not just the nakedness because that was good too, but the fact that they each had a part of the other that no one could ever take away from them. Harry gently moved some of Hermione's hair out of her face which made her eyes flutter open.

“I didn't mean to wake you.”

“Oh I don't mind as long as I'm with you.” And with that Hermione rolled completely on top of Harry, covering his body with hers. “What time is it?”

“Almost eleven, what do you want to do today?”

“Fulfill my promise to you.”

“What promise?”

“I told you when you first got here that we would spend one day in bed. Today is that day.” Hermione sat up and straddled Harry's stomach leaned down and started kissing him.

They had been kissing for a good five minutes when Harry pulled away.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“It sounded like something fell. You didn't hear it?”

“No it was probably the cat.” Hermione sat up and pulled Harry up with her as they started kissing again.

Harry moved his hands up Hermione's back and cupped her shoulders in his hand. He pulled away from her lips and started kissing her neck as she ran her fingers through his hair. He was kissing her collar bone when he heard it.

“Ron did you find them? Oh.”

“Did he find them? Oh. Way to go Harry!”

Harry quickly turned to see a blurry Ron, Fred and George standing in the door staring at them. He looked over at Hermione who was bright red and he could tell she was trying to find her voice, by the way her mouth kept opening and closing. Then Harry realized that they were both naked and grabbed the sheet and pulled it up around Hermione which seemed to help her find the words that had been eluding her .

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM AND SHUT THE DOOR!” Hermione was screaming at the top of her lungs which made Ron jump and slam the door shut.

Harry and Hermione sat there for a moment before Harry broke the silence.

“And to think I wanted to tell him at my birthday party.” Harry let out a soft laugh as he spoke.

“This isn't funny.”

“Then why are you laughing?'

“Well did you see the look on their faces it was priceless.”

“Did you hear what Fred said to me? He was congratulating me.” Harry and Hermione fell over laughing on the bed.

“Do you think they saw me naked?”

“Well I think they saw that you were naked but I don't think they saw anything because my arms were covering you.”

“Good but you need to go and talk to them and I'll take a shower.”

“Ok we'll go take a shower and then I'll go talk to them.”

“I'd love to but not while they are here. So I'll go take a shower, you go and talk to them, then I'll meet you in your room.” Hermione got out of bed and put on her robe while Harry put on his boxers.

Harry had opened the door just a crack when Hermione's hand came up and shut the door.

“Hey I thought you …” Harry was cut off by Hermione pushing him up against the door and kissed him.

“Now you can go.” Hermione turned and walked to her bathroom.

“You live to tease me don't you?”

“You know it.”

Harry laughed as he watched Hermione strip her robe and hop in the shower. He then opened the door to see three Weasleys staring at him.

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Ron's P.o.V.

Ron took one step out of the Granger's fireplace and looked around. He was about to take another step into the room when someone ran into him, throwing him to the floor with a thud.

“Would you get off of me?”

“Hold on don't get your knickers in a knot.” Fred started to get off of Ron when George came out of the fireplace and landed on his brothers.

“Oww if you two gits don't get off of me I'm going to start throwing punches.”

“Oh don't get your knickers in a knot Ronnie.”

“Why George I said the same thing to our dear little brother just before you got here.”

“Well get minds think alike.” George said helping Fred to his feet, followed by Ron standing up and brushing off his clothes.

“Fred you go check to see if they're at the pool, George, check the third floor, while I check their rooms. And if you find them yell ok.” Ron watched as Fred and George saluted him and ran off to look for Harry and Hermione.

Ron on the other hand slowly headed to the stairs and found it odd that a towel was laying on the stairs and then another one in the hallway. He headed to the bedrooms but when he got there he found something he wasn't expecting. His two best friends in bed snogging. And to Ron it look like they had been doing more then snogging because neither of them had clothes on. All he could do was watch them.

“Ron did you find them? Oh.” George had come downstairs and was now standing beside Ron in the doorway.

“Did he find them? Oh. Way to go Harry!” Fred was now in the doorway with his brothers.

Ron watched as Harry and Hermione turn and stare at them, both going very red. Ron saw Harry grab the sheet and wrap it around Hermione.

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM AND SHUT THE DOOR!” Hermione was screaming which made Ron jump and grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut with a BAM.

“I can't believe Harry's shagging Hermione!” Fred was shaking his head as he spoke.

“You can't believe it? I can't believe Hermione is letting Harry shag her.” George started to laugh with Fred when he finished.

“Shut up you two it's not funny.” Ron was mad.

Well not really mad but upset that his best friends didn't care enough to tell him that they were dating. If they were even dating in the first place for all he knew they could be shagging for fun. Ron was about to say something when the door opened but then shut quickly. Ron, Fred and George looked at each other then back at the door because of the thud that came from it. They heard some muffled talking then a laugh and then a few minutes later the door opened to reveal Harry in only boxers.

“Ron, Fred, George how are you guys doing?”

Ron opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by George.

“We're fine. So you're shagging Hermione.”

“So how long have you been shagging our dear Hermione?”

“Fred, George I can't believe you two said that. Ron can you believe them?” Harry looked over at Ron but the second he did he saw Ron lunge at him. “What the hell? Ron get off.” Harry fell back to the floor with Ron on top of him and feeling Ron's fist coming in contact with his jaw.

Harry couldn't believe Ron had hit him and watched as Fred and George tried to pull Ron off but he kept hitting away their hands.

“What's going on? Ron what are you doing?” Hermione was standing in the doorway of her room in her robe with her hair freshly washed.

“Ron hit Harry.”

“Ron - Get off of him now!”

Ron finally gave in and let his brothers pull him off of Harry. Hermione knelt down and helped Harry to his feet.

“Harry, are you ok?”

“Yeah, I'm fine he didn't hit me that hard.”

“Put him in Harry's room I think the three of us need to have a talk. Fred, George there's pizza and food in the kitchen help yourselves while we talk.”

“Thanks Hermione.”

“Harry is lucky to have you.” Fred and George each kissed Hermione's cheeks and raced downstairs to the kitchen.

Hermione reached up and ran her fingers over the light bruise that had formed on Harry's jaw and then kissed it. “There all better.” Hermione smiled and gave Harry a wink. “Now let's find out what's wrong with Ron.”

Harry and Hermione walked into Harry's room to see Ron standing by the window looking out.

“Ron what's wrong with you?” Hermione scolded.

“ME?! WHATS WRONG WITH ME?! I'M NOT THE ONE KEEPING SECRETS. I WAS THE ONE TO WALK IN AND FIND MY BEST FRIENDS SHAGGING! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF THEY DIDN'T TELL ME, THEIR BEST FRIEND!” Ron was yelling so hard that his face was the same color as his hair.

“Ron calm down it's not the end of the world. Come here.” Hermione walked over and took Ron's hand and sat him on the bed. Ron didn't even look at her when she sat down beside him. “Ron don't be mad.” Hermione looked over at Harry who was putting on some clothes. “Ron look at me. Fine if you want to be mad, be mad at me not Harry. He wanted to tell you when he owled you about staying here and at the party but I stopped him.”

“Hermione you can't take the blame for this. If I really wanted to tell him I would have. Ron, mate say something.” Harry walked over and sat beside Hermione.

“Harry would you give Ron and I a moment.” Hermione told Harry as she ushered him out the door.

Harry stood outside the room as he waited he could hear them talking and fought the urge to listen through the door. After a few minutes Hermione opened the door to let Harry back in and sat beside her on the bed.

“I'm not mad anymore…. I'm sorry.” Ron looked over at his friends who were sitting beside him.

“Why did you hit me?”

“Don't want to talk about it.”

“Ron, I swear one of these days your temper is going to get you into trouble.” Hermione and ruffled his hair.

“Just promise me that if you two break up it won't affect our friendship.”

“Promise.” Harry and Hermione said at the same time and Hermione pulled Ron into a hug.

“Well I need to go get dressed you boys play nice.” Hermione stood turned to Harry and gave him a kiss while placing her hand on his thigh. She stood turned and walked to the door without a word.

“Tease!” Harry shouted after her.

“I'll meet you two downstairs with the twins.” Hermione didn't even turn around when she spoke and went into her room.

“So… you and Hermione, do you love her?”

“Yeah I do.” Harry smiled he couldn't help and he knew it was a foolish smile but he didn't care.

“Come on lover boy.” Ron pulled Harry to his feet and they walked down to the kitchen.

Fred and George were sitting at the counter shoveling food into their mouths.

“What-cha eaten?” Ron walked over and took the stool beside Fred.

“Coco Puffs.” George said pointing to the box in front of him. “There great.”

“No that's Frosted Flakes.” Harry watched as all three of them looked over at him, he forgot some times that they were wizards and had never really watched TV. “Never mind.” Harry handed Ron a bowl and watched him fix himself cereal.

Harry turned to see Hermione walking in the kitchen behind him. After giving Harry a quick peck Hermione hopped up on the counter and then pulled him so he was standing between her legs.

“So what are you guys doing?” Hermione grabbed the box of coco puffs and started eating them dry.

“I got vur Orgvarts vetters.”

“Ron don't talk with your mouth full. And Harry and I didn't get ours.”

“Vhats becouve ve got vours. Sorry.” Ron pulled the two envelopes out of his robes and handed them to Hermione. “So we came to get you so we could go shopping. Mum and Ginny are waiting for us back at the house.”

“Oh we better get going. Harry, lets go get our cloaks.”

“We'll be back down in a few minutes - clean up while we're gone.” Harry said as they walked out of the kitchen.

Within five minute Harry and Hermione were walking back into the now spotless kitchen. They all walked into the living room and Fred was about to step into the fireplace when Hermione stopped him.

“I would just like to warn you three that if you so much as breathe a word of Harry's and my relationship I will curse and hex you until you're unrecognizable. I'll even risk getting thrown out of Hogwarts to do so. We want to tell people in our own way and not by you three saying what you walked in on.” Hermione gave an evil little smile and moved you Fred could step into the fireplace.

“The Burrow!” With that Fred went up in green flames followed by George and then Ron.

“I'll see you there.” Hermione pulled Harry into a passionate kiss then hopped into the fireplace and was gone.

Harry quickly got in the fireplace and feeling that wonderful warmth of the green flames. He stumbled out of the fireplace at the Weasley's and fell taking Hermione down with him.

“Oww Harry get off.”

“Sorry.” Harry couldn't help but notice how close his lips were to hers and how much he wanted to feel them against his. But he resisted stood up and then pulled Hermione to her feet. “No harm done.”

“Hello Harry dear, how have you been?” Mrs. Weasley asked while pulling Harry into a hug.

“I'm doing much better since I got out of my Aunt and Uncles house thank you.” Harry gave a wink to Hermione over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder.

“We'll be flooing in a few minutes.”

“Ok Mrs. Weasley.”

“Ginny, how has your holiday been?” Hermione asked as she and Ginny walked into the living room leaving the boys where they were.

“Where are Fred and George?” Harry asked as he turned his attention back to Ron.

“They had to get back to the shop. Something about…”

“WHAT?!” Ginny screeched from the couch.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and then back at the red blur that was heading for them.

“I'm so happy for you two!!” Ginny was bouncing up and down in front of Harry and Ron like a child that had just opened the present she had always wanted. “I'm just so happy for you two!!”

“Ginny dear what are you going on about?”

“Oh Mum Harry and Hermione are dating. Isn't that wonderful?”

Harry watched as Mrs. Weasley's face changed, it wasn't angry or happy, it was like stone.

“I think Harry and I need to take a little walk, you three stay here.” Mrs. Weasley took Harry's arm and led him to the door.

Harry looked back at Hermione as he was being pulled through the door; he thought she looked absolutely petrified.

Once they had got a good distance from the house Mrs. Weasley stopped and turned to Harry.

“Is it true what Ginny said?”

“Yes.” For some reason Harry was scared of Mrs. Weasley at this moment.

“Harry do you love her?”

“Yes.” He could feel her eyes boring into his head.

“Harry sometimes when a boy and girl love each other they think they need to show it in a physical way.”

Harry felt his face go red. He couldn't believe Mrs. Weasley was giving him a sex talk. He had to stop this.

“Mrs. Weasley…um…my uncle…he…um…gave me…this…talk…a…ah… few years ago… so I kind of know.” Harry didn't dare look at her; he just kept his eyes on his feet.

“Well I'm glad that good for nothing muggle did something right. But just remember to think about what you do before you do it because the two of you are still very young. Now why don't you run back to the house and tell Hermione that you two aren't in trouble. And Harry I'm happy that you and Hermione found each other you could use love from someone like her.”

“Thank you.” Harry looked up at her and smiled as he turned and ran back to the house.

He had to admit that he did feel bad about lying to her about having a sex talk with Uncle Vernon. But he really didn't want to have one with her, it might kill him. As he got back to the house he could see Hermione looking out the window at him. Harry walked in the house to find Ron pacing the floor, Ginny sitting in chair and Hermione was making her way to him.

“Don't worry she's not mad. She just wanted to have a sex talk.”

“Mum's a little late on that one.” Ron snorted out.

“Ron what do you mean by oh…Hermione you… and Harry….Wow.” Ginny was struggling to get the words out and her eyes had grown to the size of saucer when she realized what Ron meant.

She was about to say something else when she was interrupted by her mother.

“Time to go, Ron you first, then Ginny, Hermione and Harry you'll go right before me.”

The trip to Diagon Alley was the same as always. Except the fact that Hermione and Ginny walked together the whole time whispering to each other. And if that weren't bad enough every now and then they would start giggling or worse Ginny would turn and stare at Harry with her mouth open. Ron found this all very funny but it made Harry feel very self concise. Once they finally got back to the Borrow everyone was tired and hungry.

“Hermione why don't you floo home real quick and ask your parents if you and Harry can stay for dinner.” Mrs. Weasley asked as all four teenagers flopped on the furniture in the living room.

“Oh they're not home so it'll be fine if we stay.”

“Did they go out too?”

“They had a conference in London they've been there since yesterday.”

“Your parents left the two of you in the house alone overnight?”

“Yes.” Hermione realized that maybe she shouldn't have said anything because Mrs. Weasley looked worried and Harry had covered his eyes with his hands.

“Come here.”

Hermione stood up and walked over to Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all watched their interaction carefully as they spoke, and then were shocked when they hugged and Hermione turned and started to walk back to the living room.

“I want to take whatever it is that make her able to do that and bottle it and sell it.” Harry stated as Hermione picked up her book and sat down beside him and started reading. Harry, Ron and Ginny just stared at her as she turned the page of her book.

“What?” Hermione asked looking up from her book knowing full well why they were staring at her.

“What did she say?” Harry asked while taking the book from her hands.

“She asked if I thought it was a good idea if the two of us stayed alone overnight in a house unsupervised. And I told her that you are a prefect gentleman and that I lock my bedroom door at night.”

“Let me guess you failed to mention that Harry was and will be on the inside of that locked door.”

Hermione didn't even answer Ron but just gave him a wicked smile.

After a little while the twins showed up for dinner. And a short time after the twin's arrival Mr. Weasley came home kissed his wife and said hello to the chaos that was his living room. Fred and Ron were playing chess, Harry and George were playing exploding snap and Hermione and Ginny were sitting on the sofa whispering and giggling again.

“Dinner's ready!” Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

At once everyone stopped what they were doing and headed for the table. Mr. & Mrs. Weasley took their seats at the ends of the table while Fred, George, and Ginny sat on one side and Hermione, Harry and Ron sat on the other side.

“So how was shopping?” Mr. Weasley asked as he past the potatoes around the table.

“Oh it was fine dear same as always. But I did find out that our Harry and Hermione are dating.”

Harry choked on the pumpkin juice he was drinking and everyone else at the table just stopped what they were doing and looked at Mr. Weasley. The expression that Mr. Weasley face made was so much like the one that Mrs. Weasley made earlier it was scary. Harry felt Hermione's hand grab his thigh, he new she was worried.

“Don't worry Arthur I've already talked to them and everything's ok.”

Mr. Weasley gave a weak smile and then went back to his dinner. Harry and Hermione look at each other and then went back to their meals. The rest of the meal they talked of Voldemort and his movements.

“Tell them about what happen at the fun park.” Hermione whispered in Harry's ear.

“No.”

“Fine I'll do it.” Hermione didn't even look back at Harry before she spoke again. “Harry had a vision of Voldemort the other day. He hasn't told me what he saw or heard.”

All the Weasleys gasped at Voldemort's name but that didn't stop them from staring at Harry. Harry felt Hermione's hand on his thigh again and when he looked at her he saw the comforting look in her eyes.

“He's trying to find me.” Harry looked down at the table when he spoke. He then felt Hermione's hand leave his thigh and take his hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

“Harry what do you mean he's trying to find you? What did you hear?” Mr. Weasley sat up and leaned on the table to look at Harry.

“He had Bellatrix trying to find me but she couldn't. She said she'd go back out and try and find me again but that's when he realized I was there. So I let go of everything and cleared my mind. The next thing I knew I was laying on the ground back in the fun park.”

“I'll tell Dumbledore at the next Order meeting about what you heard. To tell you the truth Harry we thought he's been trying to find you outside of school. He thinks it will be easier to kill you outside the gates of Hogwarts. Snape will be checking in with us soon so I'll let you know if he's still trying to find you.”

“Am I putting Hermione and her parents in danger by staying with them, because if I am I'll go and stay at headquarters?”

“Harry! I don't care if you're putting me in danger or not, I'm not going to let you run away from the people who love you.” Hermione put her hands on Harry's face and forced him to look at her. “You tried that before and it didn't work to well now did it? So you're not going to do it now.” Hermione placed her forehead on Harry's and softened her grip on is face. “I love you.” Her voice was much softer than it had been. “And I refuse to let you go back to that dark place in your mind.” Hermione lightly kissed Harry as his arms went around her waist pulling her into his lap protectively.

“Thank you, I love you too.” Harry whispered into Hermione's neck where his head now rested. Hermione wrapped her arms tightly around Harry's shoulders bring him closer to her.

“Aww how cute.”

Fred and Ron cracked up laughing at George's comment. But all three stopped laughing when Hermione reached out and slapped Ron in the back of the head.

“OY what was that for George was the one who said it.”

“Yes, but I can't reach him from here, now can I?”

A roar of laughter erupted around the table as Hermione moved back to her seat.

It wasn't long after that that Hermione and Harry flooed back to the Granger house.

“Hermione we should talk.” Harry stopped Hermione before she reached the stairs.

“What about?”

“About us, I mean if you want to end what we have I'll understand.”

“And why would I want this to end?” Hermione's hands went to her hips defensively.

“Because everyone I have ever loved has died and I would understand if you don't want to die.”

“Harry I don't care ab…”

“BUT DON'T YOU SEE I DO!! I DON'T THINK I COULD HANDLE LOSING YOU TOO. AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE SEEN AND DONE LOSING YOU WOULD KILL ME. THAT NIGHT IN THE MINISTERY WHEN THAT DEATH EATER SENT THAT PURPLE CURSE AT YOU I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD. YOU WENT LIFELESS AND YOU HAD THE SAME LOOK IN YOU EYES AS…. AS CEDRIC DID THE NIGHT VOLDEMORT CAME BACK. I THOUGHT…I thought I had lost you and it was be-because I-I wouldn't listen to you and then be-because of-of my stupid-dity I had gotten y-you killed.” His voice was a soft whisper by the time he finished and the tears were falling freely from Harry's eyes and he could see that they were falling from Hermione's eyes too.

“Harry I would rather die loving you and you loving me then live without it.” Hermione pushed Harry's glasses into his hair and started to kiss away his tears.

“I love you Hermione. I just don't want to lose you.”

“You will never lose me because I will always be right here.” Hermione placed her hand over his heart and picked up his and placed it over her own heart. “And you will always be in mine.”

Harry lend down and captured Hermione's mouth with his while scooping her up into his arms and started walking upstairs.

Once in Hermione's room Harry placed her on her feet as her hands quickly went to remove his cloak. Her hands then went up and took off his glasses and placed them on her desk, then pulled his shirt off over his head.

They started kissing again as Hermione pulled Harry's hips against hers causing him to groan as she felt that now familiar bump. Harry pulled back and removed Hermione's cloak, then went to his knees as he started unbuttoning her shirt, kissing the skin that was revealed. He continued to do that with each button until they were all undone and then started kissing Hermione's shoulders as he pushed the shirt to the floor. He kissed up Hermione's neck while he wrapped his arms around her bare back, letting his hands reach up to her bra clasp. Harry took a deep breath as his hands released the clasp on the first try.

“Who have you been practicing that on Mr. Potter?”

Harry pulled his face away from Hermione's neck which allowed the bra to fall to the floor as her looked up at her.

“No one. Actually I thought it was supposed to be much more difficult than that to get the clasp undone.” Harry's arms went back around Hermione's body crushing their bare upper bodies together.

Hermione slid her hands across Harry's waist to his belt and undid it and was moving to the button of his pants when Harry stopped her.

“Let me take off my shoes and socks off first.” Harry flicked off his shoes and quickly removed his socks.

Hermione's hands went right back to working on Harry's pants as her lips kissed his chest. Once the zipper was undone the pants fell to the floor. Harry stepped out of them while scooping Hermione up and placing her on the bed.

“Harry, I still have half my clothes on.”

“Not for long.” Harry sat up and took off Hermione's shoes and socks. Then made his way up to Hermione's waist and while his fingers undid her pants his lips kissed the soft flesh around her navel. Hermione giggled at the feeling Harry's kisses made on her skin.

But it didn't take long before they were both naked and Hermione had her legs wrapped around Harry's waist. Harry would never understand how Hermione's nails digging into his back could feel so good. Hermione locked into Harry's eyes as he moved inside her. She could tell he was trying to burn this into his memory in case anything ever happened to her, he would have this one care free moment when nothing else seemed important. She could feel the heat starting to build inside her as he moved faster. Harry caught Hermione's lips with his as their moans were muffled in the others mouth.

“I…Love…You…Hermione.”

“I…Love…You…Too.” Hermione panted before Harry leaned down and captured her lips again. While one of Harry's arms rested by Hermione's chest to brace himself the other was moving along her thigh.

“Harry…Harry…OH Harry!” Hermione's hands were threaded through Harry's hair as that heat exploded inside her. The next thing she knew she heard Harry moan her name and collapse on top of her. Hermione ran her fingers through Harry's hair and watched as it stuck out everywhere. She lightly kissed the lightning bolt scar but pulled her lips away just as they touched it.

Harry lifted his head and looked at her. “What's wrong?”

“It's hot. Your scar when I kissed it, it was hot. Is it burning you?”

“No. That's weird I don't think that's ever happen before. I mean I always feel it when it burns.”

“We should owl Dumbledore and tell him.”

“In the morning I don't want to get up.”

“I don't want to get up either but we need to tell him now.” Hermione pulled herself out from under Harry and sat at her desk and began to write. “Dear Professor Dumbledore I am writing you to let you know that tonight I kissed Harry on his scar before we went to bed and it felt like it was burning. But the thing is, Harry didn't feel it burning. Other than that everything is going well. If you find out the cause of this please let us know. Thank you very much Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. How does that sound?” Hermione turned and looked at Harry who was lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand and the bed sheet barely covering him from the waist down.

“Good now send it off and get back in bed.”

“Ok I'll be right back.” Hermione slipped on her robe and walked over to Harry`s room, where Hedwig stayed. When she came back into her room Harry was laying on his back with his hands behind his head. Hermione shed her robe and walked over and lay on top of him under the covers.

“I'm back.”

“I can see and feel that.” Harry said and then kissed her forehead.

“You know they are almost gone, I bet by the time school starts you won't be able to see them.” Hermione said while running her finger under Harry's eye.

“What are you talking about?”

“The bags under your eyes.”

Harry just looked at her like she was crazy.

“Oh you didn't see them did you?”

“No? I had bags under my eyes?”

“Yeah not only that but they were really dark. Harry you looked like you hadn't slept in weeks. Which by my guess you hadn't, when I asked how you had been sleeping and you said it was getting easier I knew you were lying. Harry, will you tell me how long it had been?”

Harry just looked up at the canopy of the bed before he looked back down at Hermione.

“Honestly I don't know, a week maybe two. How else do you think I got all my homework done?” Harry gave a low chuckle and spoke again. “That night when you came to Privet drive was the first time I really slept, thanks to you.”

“And now?”

“I sleep every night. Last night I relived the whole thing again but when I woke up you were wrapped around me and I knew everything would be ok. I was able to go back to sleep just knowing you were here. You know it's going to be hell when we go back to school and have to sleep in different beds every night.” Harry let out another low laugh that sent vibrations through Hermione. “Hey if those circles were so bad how come Mrs. Weasley didn't make a fuss over me?”

“I warned her not to. I figured it was the last thing you needed on your birthday was Mrs. Weasley worrying you to death.”

“Thank you.” Harry pulled Hermione's body closer to him and kissed her lightly. “Would you ever think of marrying me?”

“Are you asking or testing the water?”

“Testing the water.”

“Right now I couldn't even think of spending my life with anyone else. So yes.”

Harry picked up Hermione's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.

“How many children do you want or do you even want children?”

“As many as you want. I want to be able to give you everything that those horrid Dursleys didn't. I want to just make you happy. So if you want to have ten kids then we'll have ten kids. I want the second half of you life to be perfect unlike the first half.”

“I just hope I live that long.”

“You will because you will kill Voldemort. I won't let you leave me like that. I don't want to be a widow before I'm your wife. So you better get it through your thick skull that you'll win because I refuse to lose you.”

Harry rolled Hermione on her back so he was hovering over her. He moved some of the strains of hair out of her face then lightly ran his finger over her jaw line.

“Never leave me.”

“I would never think of it. Now let's go to sleep.” Hermione watched Harry lay down on his back before she turned and rested her head on his chest. Soon the only sound in the room was that of their breathing.

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